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SKETCH OF THE HISTORY 



KEY WEST, ELORIDA, 



V'' , 

WALTER C. MALONEY. 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE NEW CITY HALL, 
JULY 4, 1876, 
AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY. 




NEWARK, N . J . : 

PKINTKD AT THK ADVKRTISKR PRINTING HOUSK, 

187 6^ 



ADDRESS. 



Mr. Mmjor and Gentlemen of the City Co\incil : 

It is scarcely more than two weeks since I had the honor 
of being informed that, it was the pleasure of 3^our Honor- 
able body to have me deliver the address on this occasion ; in 
compliance with the Proclamation of the President of the 
United States, issued in pursuance of a Eesolution of Congress 
recommending that, the commemorative exercises of the day 
should be of a historical character. 

The shortness of the time, advanced age, impaired eye- 
sight, to an extent which has seriously interfered for more 
than two years with my professional business, and more than 
all else, an unfeigned distrust of my ability to interest or 
instruct an audience, whose critical acumen and literary taste 
might lead them to expect much more than it is in my power 
to submit, might well lead me to hesitate about assuming 
the task. Indeed, gentlemen, I see before me now scores of 
citizens better qualified for the task, the advantage on my side 
lying only in a longer residence in your city than many 
others. But the invitation was in my view a work of 
distinction which no citizen, thus highly honored, could with 
propriety treat with indifference or neglect, and therefore I 
appear before you, prepared to discharge the duty assigned 
to me to the best of my ability. 

" Passant quia passe videiitur." 

Happily my labors have been lessened by finding prepared 
to ray hand much of the early history of your city, from the 



pen of Mr. William A. Whitehead, with whose name, at 
least, all are familiar, as the crentlemen who surveyed and 
mapped out the city in tlie days of its earliest settlement, 
and who subsequently bore a conspicuous part in its affairs 
for many years. To the kindness of several other gentlemen 
of the city am I also indebted for favors in the preparation 
of this paper, which I here gratefully acknowledge. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Doubtless material enough exists which, by diligent search 
and industrious application, might suffice to fill a book 
in making a history of your city, but the labor of as 
many months will scarcely be expected in a work occn- 
pying only fifteen days in its preparation. I will not 
weary your patience, nor nni)r()fitably consume your time by 
narrating the earlier history of Florida in the times of Ponce 
de Leon or De Soto. The object of the present address is to 
give a succinct and truthful sketch of the history of the 
"City of Key West," and, inasmuch as Key West is the 
County seat of Monroe County, some attention will also be 
given to the history of the County. In short, I propose to 
give such statistical data as will no longer leave it doubtful 
that there is a certain portion of the State known as, or at 
least called "South Florida," of Avhich Key West, the 
largest City in the State, is the commercial emporium. 

"It is probable," says Mr. Whitehead, "that, from the 
" time of the first visit of Ponce de Leon until the cession 
"of the Floridas to the United States, the Islands (or 
" Keys as they are termed, a corruption of the Spanish 
" word ' Cayo ') which extended in a South Westerly direc- 
" tion from Cape Florida, were only resorted to by tlie 
" aborigines of the country, the piratical crews with which 
" the neighboring seas were infested, and the fishermen (many 
" of them from St. Augustine) who were engaged in supply- 
" ing the market of Havana from the 'finny tribes' that 
" abounded in their vicinity. Of the occasional presence of 



" tlie first, we have evidence in the marks of ancient fortifica- 
" tions, or mounds of stone, found in various localities (in one 
" of whicli, opened some years since, human bones of a large 
" size were discovered) and tradition has in addition, brought 
" down to us notices of them which deserve all the credit 
" conferred upon the same authority in other parts of the 
" country. The oldest settler in this section of the country, 
" one whose residence in the neighborhood of Charlotte 
" Harbor, dated back to about 1785, used to say that, in his 
" early years he had heard it stated that some eighty or ninety 
" years previous, (probably al)out the commencement of the 
" eighteenth century) the Indians inhabiting the Islands 
" along the coast, and those on the main land, were of diff- 
" erent tribes, and as the Islanders frequently visited the 
" main for the purpose of hunting, a feud arose between the 
" two tribe 5, and those from the main having made an irrup- 
" tion into the Islands, their inhabitants were driven from 
" island to island until they reached Key West. Here, as 
'' tliey could flee no farther, they were compelled to risk a 
"final battle, which resulted in the almost entire extermina- 
" tion of tlie islanders. Only a few escaped, (and that by a 
" miracle, as they embarked in canoes upon the ocean) whose 
" descendants, it is said, were known to have been met with 
" in the Island of Cuba. 

" This sanguinary battle strewed this island with bones, as 
" it is probable the conquerors tarried not to commit the 
" bodies of the dead to the ground, hence the name of 
" the Island Cayo Hueso (in Spanish 'Bone Island') which 
" the English, with the same facility which enabled them to 
" transform the name of the wine Xeres seco into ' Sherry 
•' sack,' corrupted into " Key West." 

" That the harbor of Key West was the occasional resort 
" of pirates, has been proven by the evidence of many who 
" were connected with them in their lawless depredations, 
" and by the discovery of hidden articles, that could only 
" have been secreted by them." 



6 

We are not left to conjecture that this island was known, 
and resorted to by the Fishermen supplying the market of 
Havana, years previous to the change of flags from Spain to 
the United States. One of our most worthy citizens, who 
I hope is within the sound of my voice on this Centennial 
Jubilee, Captain John H. Geiger, a native of St, Augustine, 
was a frequent visitor to the waters of our harbor, before 
that interesting period in the history of our country. 

"On the 26 August, 1815," continues Mr. Whitehead, 
" for some military services rendered to the Government by 
" Juan P. Salas, Don Juan de Estrado, then Governor of 
" Florida, granted to him the Island of "Key West, but noth- 
" ing was done by Salas in the way of settlement or improve- 
" ment, and the Island bore the same wild aspect it had worn 
" for ages, when, on the 20th of December, 1821, Salas sold 
" liis right, title and interest to John W. Simonton, then of 
" Mobile, who met with Salas in Havana. Having heard of 
" the advantageous situation and capacity of the harbor, etc., 
" Mr. Simonton was induced, from the certain prospect of 
" improvement throughout the country, by the cession to the 
•' United States, which his mercantile experience led him to 
" foresee must advance the interests of a settlement at this 
" point, he consummated the purchase of the Island for the 
" sum of Two thousand dollars, and, on the 19th of January, 
" 1822, he took possession.' 

" Soon after making the purchase of the Island, Mr. 
" Simonton sold one undivided quarter of his interest to 
" John Warner and John Mountain,^ and two other quarters 
"to John Whitehead and John W. C. Fleeming,' also of 
"Mobile at that time. The interest of Messrs. Warner and 
" Mountain was soon after transferred to Pardon C. Greene, 

' See Appendix, Note A. 

"Personal friends of Mr, Simonton. The first was United States Consul, and 
tlie other Commercial Agent of the United States at Havana. 

^ See Appendix, Note B. 



" who became a permanent resident of the Island from that 
"time."' 

Mr. Whitehead notices tlie remarkable "jconnection of the 

name " John " with all those who fio-ure-prominently at that 

time in the acquisition and settlement of the island, 

— thus — " JoTin de Estrada, the Spanish Governor of Florida, 

' granted the island to John P. Salas, who made a condi- 

' tional sale to John B, Strong, who conveyed his title, such 

' as it was, to John W. Simonton. John W. Simonton hav- 

' ing secured the title of John P. Salas, disposed of a portion 

' of it to John Whitehead and John W. C. Fleeming, 

' John Warner and John Mountain, and John B. Strong 

' transferred his claim such as it was to John Geddes, who 

' having the countenance of the commander of a United 

' States Vessel in the harbor, effected a landing and took 

' possession in April, 1822." A suit at law was there- 

' upon commenced, and John W. Simonton engaged as his 

' counsel, John Rodman, and John Gadsden." This suit it 

will not be improper to remark here, was finally terminated 

by a compromise. 

The Commissioners appointed under the Treaty of Cession 
with Spain, having reported favorably upon the validity of 
the grant to Salas, the same was confirmed by Congress thus 

^ See Appendix, Note C. 

- One of the legal documents connected with this claim, states, that the con- 
sideration given for the island by Strong, in the first instance, " was a small 
sloop of about thirty-one tons burden, "called the Leopard of G-lastenbury," 
for which he had paid $575. Strong's title proving imperfect, Salas, in order 
to obtain the restoration of the island, conveyed to him five hundred acres of 
a track at the "Big Spring, East Florida." 

A Doctor Montgomery and George M. G-eddes were in charge of the party 
sent by John Geddes to take possession in his name. The party consisted of 
two carpenters and three negroes, with provisions and lumber to build a shed. 
The Proprietors on the island were disposed to resist their proceedings, but a 
Captain Hamersley, of the U. S. Schooner Revenge, having taken them under 
his protection, they had to be satisfied with simply protesting. How long the 
party remained on the island is not known. 



settling perfectly and forever, all title to lands on the island 
of Key West derived leojally through John P. Salas, and 
John W. Simonton. 

It is remarkable that the successors of these numerous 
Johns, upon seeking the name of a titular saint for ecclesias- 
tical purposes selected that oi Paul. It may have been owing 
to the fact that, St. Paul was more identiiied with islands and 
the sea than was St, John. 

A Territorial government having been established for 
Florida in March, 1819, several persons from St. Augustine, 
the Bahama Islands, South Carolina and other States of the 
Union, repaired to tliis Island shortly after it was taken pos- 
session of, and were hospitably received by the proprietors. 
Building lots were given to some of them within that part of 
the island intended to be laid out for a city. Among the 
first settlers were Joseph C. Whalton and family ; Michael 
Mabrity and family, William W. Rigby and family, Antonio 
Giraldo and family, Mr, Richard Fitzpatrick, and others. 

On the 7th of February, 1822, Lieut. M. C. Perry, Com- 
mander of the U. S. Schooner Shark, received orders to visit 
and examine the island and harbor and to take possession as 
part of the territory ceded ])y Spain; and on the 25th of 
March following, the interesting ceremony was witnessed by 
the few residents, of raising a staff and displaying therefrom 
the flag of the United States, while at the same time their 
sovereignty over this and the neighboring islands was form- 
ally proclaimed. Captain Perry named the island " Thomp- 
son's Island," and the harbor " Port Rod gers ; " the first in 
honor of the then Secretary of the Navy, and the other after 
Commodore Rodgers, the President of the Navy Board. 
Tliese cognomens according to the report of Commander 
Perry, seem to have originated with him, and were in accord- 
ance with the wishes of the Proprietors of the island, three 
of whom were present,' but they have long ceased to be 

' Wnrner, Fleeming and Whiteliead. 



9 

used/ During the summer some officers and men were left 
on the island, dwelling in tents. 

In February, 1822, Captain L. T. Patterson and Lieut. 
Tuttle, of the U. S. Navy, arrived with orders from the gov- 
ernment to survey the coast and harbor, and they were soon 
followed by various government vessels bringing stores and 
materials, and by the end of the year the island was a regu- 
larly constituted Naval Depot and station, under the command 
of Commodore Porter. '^ 

GOVERNMENT IMPROVEMENTS. 

The government of the United States since the early period 
thus briefly reviewed, has made, by fits and starts, some pro- 
gress in the military defences of the island; and, it is to be 
regretted, ofteuer from the importunities of our congressmen 
on mere party exigencies, than from any statesmanlike views 
of the absolute necessity of such works in times of national 
emergencies. 

In 1824, a company of United States Marines was sta- 
tioned here, and barracks erected for them, fronting upon the 
harbor between Duval and Whitehead streets. These build- 
ings stood in a dilapidated condition until about 1831, when 
they were sold and removed. 

In February 1831, Major James M. Glassel arrived in com- 
mand of a detachment of two companies of Infantry, leading 
to the purchase of about ten acres of land in the north 
eastern section of the city, and the erection of buildings for 
the accommodation of the troops. In 1844 these structures 
were removed, and the present spacious and ornamental 
buildings erected. They are, however, abandoned at this 
time to the care of a citizen watchman, on the plea of appre- 



' Commodore Porter, subsequently, seemed disposed to distinguished the 
settlement still further by dating his letters at "Allenton," but the title was 
even shorter lived than the others. 

" See Appendix, Note D. 

2 



10 

hended sickness, where no sickness exists to which the oldest 
inhabitants are not liable. 

'^"In 1845, Fort Taylor was commenced, and so much of the 
work as had been accomplished up to October, 1846, w^as, by 
the disastrous liurricane of that year, washed away, tosjether 
with the light house on Whitehead's point. Another light 
house was constructed a few years after, and stands on the 
extended line of Whitehead street, a short distance south of 
the line of the city. 

The work on Fort Taylor, although interrupted, was not 
suspended, and was so far completed as to be available for 
garrison purposes from 1861 to 1865. At present it is unoc- 
cupied, and is under the care of the Engineer Department, f 

In 1856, a United States Depot or store house was. com- 
menced, at the corner of Whitehead and Front streets, 
contiguous to the Custom House. In April, 1857, when the 
walls were ready to receive the roof, for want of an appropri- 
ation by Congress, work (jx\ this building was suspended, and 
so remained for several years, and at the outbreak of the 
civil war was in this unfinished condition. Whether by design 
or apathy, this strategic point in the defences of the nation 
was unprovided with a single ton of coal for the use of the 
navy, and the steamship "Atlantic," after conveying troops 
for the relief of Fort Pickens, having touched at this port 
for a supply, found none, and was compelled to sail to Havana 
therefor. 

The incalculable advantages afforded by the experience of 
the war, in having and -holding this harbor as a naval depot 
and rendezvous for the East Gulf Squadron, seems to have 
faded from the minds of those charged with the welfare of 
the nation. They have not heeded the wise suggestion of 
General Washington, ''In time of peace prepare for war."' 

After the commencement of the civil war, and during its 
progress, a machine shop and foundry were erected because 
indispensable to the operations of the East Gulf Blockading 
Squadron in these waters ; but these valuable works are now 



11 

occupied by land-crabs and other of the araphibions genus 
piscine. 

Between the Custom House, and Fort Taylor, both admir- 
ably located for their respective uses, a Marine Hospital 
was constructed in 1845. This building, well adapted for its 
purposes, is nevertheless of comparatively small value to the 
seamen for whose benefit it is ostensibly maintained, as they 
are rigorously excluded by regulations, emanating from the 
Treasury Department, in the event of being afflicted with 
contagious or epidemic diseases contracted abroad. When 
it is borue in mind that Marine Hospitals are erected 
and maintained from a direct tax of forty cents per month 
from the earnings of seamen, the exclusion from their benefits, 
under such circumstances, is .aggravated in its hardship by its 
manifest injustice. The fact that the Hospital here is in 
the immediate proximity of a thickly settled portion of 
your city, should not be suffered to be mentioned as an 
excuse for these exclusions. If this tact necessitates the 
exclusion, the present buildin'g need not be vacated or 
demolished. The government should erect another, more 
remote from the city, applicable to treatwient of these exclu- 
ded cases. To say, that it will increase expenditures or 
diminish the fund, neither removes the stigma from the gov- 
ernment, nor refunds to the distressed seaman his proj)ortion 
of this compulsory tax. 

If I speak warmly on this subject, my excuse must be 
found in the fact that a portion of my early life was spent on 
the ocean, and though fortunately escaping the necessity of 
requiring treatment in any of these institutions, I necessarily 
feel the hardships imposed upon a class with whom I was 
once professionally associated. 

Two Martello Towers and a sand Battery have been con- 
structed on the Southern and Eastern beach of the island, 
and another Sand Battery on the Southeastern side between 
Fort Taylor and the Marine Hospital, The Towers were 



12 

commenced in 1861, and the Sand Batteries in 1873, and are 
as yet unfinished. 

We look to-dai/ with aching eyes for the National flag on 
Fortress or Cantonment. It is not to be seen, although the 
Flag-staffs are visible to the naked eye, and we fail to hear 
from either place the sound of booming cannon. Paymaster 
Mellach, United States Navy, has attempted to atone for the 
omission of the first, by a bounteous display of bunting over 
and around the Naval Depot, and our patriotic fellow towns- 
man, Captain Dixon, whose collection of Marine and other 
curiosities attracts so much attention, regales us with the 
smell of gunpowder, and distracts our attention by the noise 
of his four })oundor. 

COURTS AND JUDICIARY. 
In 1828, a Territorial or Federal Court was establi.shed by 
act of Congress, under the title of the "Supreme Court for 
the Southern Judicial District of the Territory of Florida ; " ' 
with Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction as well for offences 
against the laws of the Territory of Florida, as of the United 
States, and embracing admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, 
thus superceding the jurisdiction of local inferior magistrates, 
and special commissioners for the adjudication of questions 
of salvage, arising out of the frequent wrecks occurring in 
the vicinity. The establishment of this Court, the first term 
of which commenced on November 3d, 1828, led to the immi- 
gration hither of a large number of lawyers, but the business 
of the Court not proving very extensive, the stay of most 
of them was of limited duration.'' 

'Approved, May 23d, 1828. The district included that part of " the Terri- 
tory whicli lies north of a line from Indian River on the east, and Charlotte 
Harbor on the west, including the latter harbor." The northern lino of the 
present district, runs due east from the northern part of Charlotte Harbor. 

'Considerable amusement was excited at the time, by an announcement in the 
newly established " Register," of the arrival of a vessel from middle Florida, 
with " an assorted cargo and seven lawyers," as if they had been imported in 
bulk. 



13 

James Webb, of Georgia, had the honor of being commis- 
sioned as the first Judge of this Court in 1828 ; the appoint- 
ment to the office being made by the President of the 
United States, subject to the confirmation of the Senate. 
He retired from the office in April, 1838,' and was succeeded 
by William Marvin in 1839, who occupied the bench of this 
court until Florida was admitted as a state into the Union 
in 1845, on the occurrence of which event, Isaac H. Bronson 
was commissioned as Judge for the whole state. Judge 
Marvin, however, was restored to the Bench in 18-17, under a 
new commission as Judge of the District Court of the United 
States, for the Southern District of Florida, from which 
office he also retired in 1868. Judge Marvin is at present 
residing in the State of New York, and occasionally engages 
in the practice of his profession ; chiefly in matters of Admir- 
alty Jurisdiction, (»n which branch of the law while on the 
bench, he wrote and published a work entitled, "A Treatise 
on the Law of Wreck and Salvage," which has earned him 
an enviable reputation. 

It is but justice to this gentleman to say, that he occupies 
to-day a high place in the esteem and regard of those of us, 
who were his fellow citizens on this island during the many 
years in which he occupied the bench, with so much honor to 
himself, and the profession.^ 

On the resignation of Judge Marvin, he was succeded 
by Thomas J. Boynton, perhaps the youngest man ever 
appointed to the bench of the United States. He in turn 
resigned in consequence of impaired health, the result 



' Judge Webb removed to Texas, and for a time was Secretary of State in 
that republic, prior to its admission into the Union. 

- Judge Marvin's decided stand for tlie Union on the breaking out of the 
Civil War, tended in a great measure to sustain the authority of the United 
States at Key West. His services were fully recognized -by the Government, 
and for some time he held the important position of Provisional Governor of 
Florida. 



14 

of intense application to other sciences than that of his 
profession. The resignation of Judge Boynton produced 
the appointment of John H. McKinney, in 1S71. With 
melancholy feelings is tlie name of this gentleman in- 
troduced ; modest, digniiied, urbane, diligent and learned, he 
gave pi'omise of much usefulness : alas ! how short his judi- 
cial career, leaving the island with the expressed intention of 
removing his famil}^ hither for permanent settlement, he 
failed to reach the city of New York alive ; his death is 
reported to have occurred just previous to the arrival of the 
steamer, in which he was a passenger. 

Of the present incumbent, James W. Locke, it would be 
indelicate at this time to speak, further than to give expres- 
sion to the hope that, when the judicial ermine'falls from his 
shoulders, it will be as unspotted as it now is and was, when 
worn by his predecessors.' 

The civil and criminal business before this Court is ni- 
considerable. Only three persons have been convicted of capi- 
tal felonies during its existence, one of which occurred in 
this city, and the others on the high seas, two were capitally 
punished,'^ and the sentence of the other commuted to im- 
prisonment for life. The Court is principally occupied in 
matters of salvage connected with shipwrecks. 

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 

For purposes of municipal government, an act of the Leg- 
islative Council of the Territory of Florida was obtained in 
January, 1828, to incorporate the Island of Key West. No 
copy of this Act is at present within reach, nor is it material 
to the matter in hand, as in November of the same year it 



' See Appendix, Note E. 

^ One of these cases was in the latter part of 1830. The culpritj an inort'en- 
sive fellow ordinarily, who had killed a man in a drunken broil, had taken no 
advantage of numberless opportunities for escaping, and on being asked why 
he did not. replied that they ' wanted to hang some one for a pattern, and he 
thought he would gratify them. ' 



16 

was repealed bj an Act to incorporate the Town of Key 
West. This latter Act incorporates the free white inhabi- 
tants of that part of the Island of Key "West in the County 
of Monroe, comprehended within the limits prescribed by 
the plan of said Town, then on file in the Clerk's office of 
said county, (which limits are at this day the same as they 
were then, as delineated on the original map of the town) all 
free white male persons over the age of twenty-one years, hav- 
ing had a residence for three whole months within these 
limits being qualified electors. 

The government of the Town was vested in a person to be 
called a President, and in a council to consist of six persons. 
This President and Council were not only empowered to en- 
force the laws of their own body, but also, all the Laws of 
the Legislative Council of the Territory ; and yet more 
singular, their power to levy taxes was confined to taxing 
and licensing " Hawkers and Peddlers and transient traders," 
and to the levying of a " poll tax ;" unless the power to levj- 
and collect other taxes shall be found in the other granted 
powers, — " to provide for the interior police and good gov- 
ernment of said town," — a question which lawyers might 
find pregnant with doubts. ^''Expressio wnius est exclusio 
ulteriusy 

The members of the Town Council elected under this Act 
of incorporation were, D. C. Pinkham, President, Pardon C. 
Greene, B. B. Strobel, W. A. Whitehead, Joseph Cottrell, F. 
A, Browne and C E. Weaver, who elected for their officers 
William H. Wall, Clerk, P. B. Prior, Marshal, H. S. Water- 
house, Treasurer. 

The incorporated Town gave place to an incorporated City 
in 1832. The Act of incorporation gave more general and 
specific powers to the City authorities, especially in regard 
to the subject of taxation, regulating and restraining the 
retailing of spirituous liquors, etc. 

Under this act of incorporation of the City (proper) the 
first evidence of a valuation of real estate is to be found 



16 

for purposes of taxation. The assessed value of all the real 
estate in the City at that time amounted to $65,923.75 ; the 
improved portion was assessed at $61,005.00 ; the unimproved, 
at the rate of $25. per acre, $3,918.75. 

No power of taxation on personal property was given by 
this charter, and consequently no tax upon it was assessed or 
collected. The total amount of taxes collected on this assess- 
ment of real estate was $329.61. The number of buildings 
wthin the City at that time (1832) was 81, including sheds for 
storage of wrecked cotton, and other articles, blacksmiths' 
shops, etc. The two principal buildings were the warehouses of 
Pardon C Greene, and Fielding A. Browne ; the assessed 
value of each, $6,000, including the lands and wharf prop- 
erty. In 1835 this charter was revoked, and in 1836 renewed 
and, as amended in 1838, lasted during our Territorial exis- 
tence. 

The last charter (in 1846, under the State administration) 
continued to be the protection of the well disposed, and the 
restraint of those otherwise disposed, during the period of the 
unhappy civil war until in 1869, when it was superceded by 
a general law of the legislature enacted under the provisions 
of the present state constitution, which requires laws of this 
character to be general ; constructing a procrustean bed upon 
which the infant or the giant must of necessity lie. 

From 1832 the date of the first charter as a city, until the 
present, (1876,) the following named individuals have success- 
ively been elected to the office of Mayor : Oliver O'Hara, 
Fielding A. Browne, William A. Whitehead, Thomas 
Socarty,' William C. Green, P. J. Fontanc, Alex. Patterson, 
Benjamin Sawyer, W. C. Maloney, F. J. Moreno, John P. 
Baldwin, John W. Porter, William Curry, P. J. Fontane, 
Alex. Patterson, Benjamin Sawyer, John P. Baldwin, Wm. 

' So called, but his signature reads Tomaso Sacheti Ti. He was elected by 
those who wished to nulUfj the then existing Charter bj casting ridicule upon 
the office, and for a time they were successful — discord and misrule prevailed. 



17 

Marvin, A. Patterson, E. O. Gwynn, W. S. Allen, Dr. W. 
Whitehurst, Henry Mulrenon, J. B. Browne, W. D, Cash, 
Winer Bethel, E. O. Gwynn and C. M. de Cespedes now in 
office. 

The returns for the election of the first mayor show a total 
vote of 39 ballots. The last total vote was 754 for the same 
office. The total population of the Town in 1831 is recorded 
at 300.' At the present time it is ascertained to be 12,733. 

With such a population representing almost all nations, 
peoples, and tongues, we may safely challenge the world for 
morality and observance of law. At the present time, (and 
the present reflects the past in this particular at least,) our 
Jail is comparatively teuantless ; the number of the Jailor's 
family being almost, if not quite, as large as those occupying 
the building as prisoners, the latter numbering only six. 

The names of the former mayors who survive are, William 
A. Whitehead, William Marvin, W. C. Maloney, F. J. Moreno, 
William Curry, E. O. Gwynn, J. B. Browne, W. S. Allen, 
W. D. Cash, Winer Bethel. 

The office of Mayor, (allow me to say, my friends, for 
I speak from experience) has never been a bed of roses 
to the incumbent. The language of the poet most fltly 
illustrates its character ; 

" Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." ^ 
COMMERCIAL. 

Key West derives its importance in the commercial world 
from — 

First. Its geographical position, it being the extreme 
southern point of the United States ; 



' In 1835, Mr. Whitehead estimated the population at 600. If my recollec- 
tion is correct, an enumeration of the inhabitants was taken in 1835, which 
gave the total resident population as 582, including black, white and all other 
colors, lame, lazy and blind. 

^ See Appendix, Note F. 

3 



18 

Second. For its capacious harbor, the great depth of water 
over its bar and the ease of ingress and egress to and from its 
outer and inner roadsteads, and 

Third. From its affording, as has been already stated, 
such ready protection to her shipping, naval and otherwise, 
in time of war and stress of weather. 

From these considerations, and other facts and statistical 
information which I shall proceed to introduce, we claim for 
Key West that it is the Commercial Emporium of the State 
of Florida. 

By special legislation, the President was authorized to 
establish a Custom House at Key West in 1S22. A Col- 
lector and other officers were appointed, and the following 
year a revenue cutter was attached to the port ; but not until 
1828 was a collection district regularly established tor South 
Florida. Key West was constituted the Port of Entry, which 
it continues to be at the present time.' 

There are no detailed statistics at hand prior to 1831, but 
from that year to 1835, we are indebted to a report from 
Mr. William A. Whitehead, of the number of Vessels entered 
and cleared and the amount of Imports and Exports during 
that period, as follows : 

1831 1832 1833 1834 1836 



American Vessels Entered, 268 283 201 297 321 

Foreign Vessels Entered, 22 20 10 16 10 

of these there were 

1831 1832 1833 1834 1833 



From American Ports, 


118 


141 


106 


135 


158 


From Foreign Ports, 


172 


162 


105 


178 


173 




1831 


1832 


1833 


18.34 


1835 


American Vessels, Cleared 


261 


256 


205 


249 


248 


Foreign Vessels, Cleared 


21 


15 


11 


15 


12 



See Appendix, Note G. 



19 

of these there were 

1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 

For American Ports, 124 94 110 81 89 

For Foreign Ports, 158 177 106 183 171 

VALUE OF IMPORTS FROM FOREIGN PORTS. 

1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 

$67,863. $108,778. $39,024. $107,856. $27,657. 

EXPORTS. 

1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 

$35,152. $63,943, $35,138. $86,947. $27,657. 

"To the amount of Exports should be added annually," 
says Mr. Whitehead, " from fifteen to twenty thousand dol- 
lars, the proceeds of live fish caught within the district, for 
foreign markets, principally that of Havana, which amounts, 
it should be borne in mind, do not enter into the Custom 
House returns. 

"The revenues of the Custom House at this port show an 
average of about $45,000 annually from 1828 to 1832; 1835 
alone $20,000." 

Want of time as well as lack of sufficient statistical com- 
piled data, compels me to pass over the intervening years 
down to 1874. And notwithstanding the City of Charles- 
ton, S. C, and the City of Savannah, Ga. are to-day cel- 
ebrating their Centennial as GitieH^ and we barely more than 
a xS'ewiz-Centennial, the figures given from the Report of the 
" Bureau of Statistics of Commerce and Navigation " for the 
year 1874, will tend to show the gratifying progress of our 
City in Commerce and JSTavigation. 

The comparative number of entrances into these several 
collection districts from foreign countries was as follows : 

American Amer. Ocean For. Ocean 

Vessels. Steamers. Steamers. 

Charleston, S. C, 52 1 9 

Savannah, G-a., 71 10 

Mobile, Ala., 44 2 

St. John's, Fla., 46 

Key West, Fla., 301 63 10 



20 



For the year ending June 30th, 1876, the total numbers of 
arrivals and clearances at Key West, as shown by the Cus- 
tom House Records, are as follows : 

COASTWISE. ARRIVALS. CLEARANCES. 

Steamers 153 155 

Schooners 66 52 

Barks 2 7 

Brigs 5 6 

Ships 1 1 

Total, 227 221 

FOREIGK. ARRIVALS. CLEARANCES. 

Steamers 52 60 

Schooners 266 258 

Sloops 26 26 

Barks 12 2 

Brigs 7 2 

Ships 2 2 

Total, 365 360 

The Amount of Dutiable goods imported into this 

District in 1874 .$641,335.00 

Free of Duty 19.077.00 

Making the Total importation, $660,432.00 

Pensacola imported (same time), 23,964.00 

Fernandina 1,339.00 

St. John's (Jacksonville) 0.00 

Amount of Duties paid into the Custom House for the 

past three years, ending June, on Imports. 

1874, $222,371.35 

Tonnage Dues 2,520.83 

Hospital Dues.. 2,728.51 

Total 1874, $227,620.72 

For 1875, $297,238.96 

For 1876, 245,514.73 

Other Commercial Statistics are given in the Appendix.' 



See Appendix, Note R. 



21 



MARINE RAILWAY. 



Prior to 1853, all vessels needing repairs, or cleaning, were 
hove-down by means of tackles at one of the wharves in the 
city, or banked on some sand bar to allow the scrubbing off 
of the moss which generally gathers on the bottom of a 
vessel. Although no serious accident has resulted to any 
vessel from the use of the first method, it is notwithstanding 
regarded as hazardous, and creates no little uneasiness to the 
master, inasmuch as tardiness or mischance in righting up, 
in the event of a sudden squall of wind might endanger the 
masts of the vessel. It is also attended with expense by 
obliging the crew to live on shore and in keeping the vessel 
free of water by use of the pumps, and can never be resorted 
to in the case of steam boats, which within a few years have 
almost monopolized the doinestic carrying trade of the gulf. 

In March 1853, Messrs. Browne and Curry, merchants of 
this city, caused to be constructed a Marine Railway for the 
better convenience of commerce. This railway has been in 
constant operation to the present time. The number of ves- 
sels taken up on these ways has been 2,277 ; the largest vessel 
was of 519 tons. 

The power and strength of the ways are considered as 
sufficient for taking up vessels of much larger size ; the ob- 
stacle lies in the insufficiency of water to admit the entrance 
of a vessel drawing over eight feet forward. 

The valuable unoccupied water front which affords a depth 
of water of twenty feet, will, it is to be hoped, at some time 
not far distant, supply a much needed desideratum to the 
operations of commerce in a " screw," or " dry dock." 

Facilities in aid of commerce of such character as these, 
are of public as well as private benefit, in reducing freights 
and insurance, and as a consequence reducing the price of 
necessary articles for consumption. 



22 



SALT MANUFACTURE. 



The original proprietors and first settlers of Key West 
considered the manufacture of salt as the most probable 
means of making it known in the commercial world. Small 
quantities had been gathered from the natural salt pond in 
the interior, without any special facilities, and that portion 
of the island was regarded as destined to be the source of 
future wealth to any enterprising individuals who might un- 
dertake to turn its advantages to account. Tlie resident pro- 
prietors, however, were not themselves possessed of sufficient 
ca])ital, beyond the requirements of their commercial under- 
takings, to engage in the business. Consequently the first 
regular attempt at the manufacture, was not made until 1830. 
Mr. Richard Fitzpatrick, of South Carolina, then a resident 
on the island, leased that year the Whitehead interest in the 
pond. An intelligent, educated colored man named Hart, 
was brought from the Bahamas and placed in charge of the 
works, but notwithstanding that several seasons promised 
favorable results,' they were never realized, partly, as was 
thought at the time, from the demand for labor aroi\nd the 
wharves in the town, at high rates, drawing off tlie hands. 
Prompt returns therefrom, very naturally inducing tlie mas- 
ter to disregard future prospects for present realization from 
the labor of his slaves. Mr. Fitzpatrick abandoned his works 
in 1834. The reduction of the duty on salt soon after he 
commenced operations, had some effect ])robai)ly in produc- 
ing this result, but at one time he had over thirty hands em- 
ployed. 

The next attempt was made under the auspices of the "La 
Fayette Salt Company," organized through the exertions of 
Mr. Simonton; the principal stockholders being residents of 
Mobile and New Orleaiis. Oj^erations were commenced early 
in 1835, but success was not achieved, and their works passed 

' In the summer of 1832, the prospect was thought good for 60,000 bushels, 
but they were all lost. 



23 

in a few years into the hands of another company, Messrs. 
Adam Gordon, F. A. Browne and Wm. H. Wall being among 
the stockholders ; and subsequently, about 1843, Charles Howe 
obtained the controlling interest, and after the hurricane of 
1846, became the sole proprietor. In 1850 the crop amounted 
to thirty-five thousand bushels, and Mr. Howe was encouraged 
to enlarge his works by the purchase of the Whitehead portion 
of the pond, which had been abandoned by Mr. Fitzpatrick ; 
and in 1851 sold half of his interest to W. C. Dennis, to whom 
the management of the works was entrusted. The amount of 
salt produced annually, varied materially, ranging from 
fifteen to twenty thousand bushels to seventy-five thousand, 
the largest crop raked in any one year. Mr. Dennis contin- 
ued the manufacture until his death, which occurred in 1854. 

During the Civil War, the manufacture of salt on the island 
was suspended, in consequence of one of the principal sources 
of demand — the Charlotte Harbor fisheries — having been cut 
off; the militar}' authorities being apprehensive that the salt 
furnished to them would find its way into the Confederacy. 
The fisheries at Charlotte Harbor were established many years 
before the settlement of the island, and at the present time 
consume from ten to fifteen thousand bushels of salt an- 
nually. 

In 1865, Mr. W. R. Livermore, a lieutenant in the U. S. 
Engineer Corps, purchased the works and commenced the 
manufacture, but after spending a large amount of money in 
the prosecution of the business, was unsuccessful ; and in 1871, 
the works passed into the hands of Messrs. C. and B. Howe, 
who are now the owners. 

I know that I shall astonish some of my hearers, when I 
state that the Custom House records exhibit the fact, that in 
that year (1871), there was imported into this city for the con- 
sumption of our fisheries, 1,028,279 lbs., nearly 14,000 bushels, 
of foreign salt. Those directly engaged in the fisheries in 
our county, know the fact as well as the merchants who im- 
ported it. The salt ponds of this island, capable of producing 



24 

seventy-five thousand bushels, or 5,700.000 lbs. per annum were 
idle during that year, while the fish were in great abundance. 

Mr. Liverniore's want of success was in a great measure due 
to the enforced substitution of free labor. No place in the 
South, at the time of emancipation, had a better class of ne- 
groes than Kev West, and as a general thing their behavior 
under the circumstances, was such as entitled them to words 
of gratifying commendation. It was not to be expected that 
those who had, previously, generally labored from no other 
motive than fear of punishment, having the boon of freedom 
thrust upon them, — accompanied by teachings of bold, bad 
men, of further privileges to be acquired, by some means, with- 
out labor — should ever l)ecome useful to themselves or 
others. There has been a large immigration of colored per- 
sons from the Bahamas, within the last four years, and while 
the statistician may rejoice over the number thus added to 
the population, the philanthropist and moralist must be moved 
with compassion on witnessing the approaches to degradation 
and vice which are apparent. 

As the season for raking salt is limited, generall}' to a few 
weeks, the present operators employ temporary laborers, each 
man raking up and wheeling out from sixty to seventy bushels 
per day. For much of the time since the manufacture com- 
menced, foreign salt has been free of duty, effecting preju- 
dicially the result of the home producers. That impediment 
to success, however, has not existed for some years, but still 
the manufacture of salt falls far short of the anticipation of 
the early settlers on the island.' 

SEGAR MANUFACTURE. 
The remark was made a few days ago in my presence that 
no single industrial pursuit in this city had acquired such 
rapid ijrowth and dimensions as the manufacture ol segars. 
This is only partially true, for this particular manufacture of 
Key West, has a history dating back many years. 



' See AppeDdix, Note I. 



25 

We find as early as 1831, an advertisement in the "Key- 
West Gazette," by W. H. Wall, of the establishment of a 
segar factory by himself. This factory employed about fifty 
operatives, and exported segars. It was located in the rear of 
vrhat is now known as the St. James Hotel, between Duval 
and Fitzpatrick streets, and was eventually destroyed by 
fire. 

Estava and Williams, in 1837 and 1838, also operated a 
factory in which sixteen men were employed, and made ship- 
ments to New York. Communication between New York 
and this island, it will be borne in mind, was exceedingly irreg- 
ular and uncertain at that date, being dependent, chiefly, 
upon vessels going north with cotton from St. Marks or other 
gulf ports, and often the long time elapsing between oppor- 
tunities worked serious injury to the business. 

Odet Phillippe and Shubael Brown, also engaged in this 
business with a force of six men, about the same time. 

The Arnan Brothers, Francisco and James, as far back as 
1834, down to the time of the death of both, were constantly 
employed in the manufacture, and in 1838 were joined by 
Albert, another brother. They did not aspire however beyond 
domestic trade. 

Messrs. Francisco Sintas, Manuel Farino and E. O. Gwynn, 
also at different times, and for short periods, were engaged in 
the business, so that you will observe that the growth of this 
industrial pursuit has been otherwise than rapid. The dimen- 
sions which it has acquired, however, are truly gratifying. At 
present the number of factories is twenty-nine, giving em- 
ployment to about 2,100 persons in our city. The average 
daily product of these factories is estimated at 171,000, or 
62,415,000 annually. 

The amount disbursed by these factories for labor alone in 
our city, may be stated within bounds to be one million of 
dollars annually. Three of these factories, employ over 
1,500 hands. The factory " La Rosa Espanola " employ over 
600, and is owned by Messrs. Seidenburg and Company. The 
4 



26 

" Principe de Gales," Mr. Martinez Ybor, proprietor, employs 
over 400." The "Club de Yate," (intended for The Yacht 
Club,) Messrs. McFall and Lawson, employ 100. These are the 
leading; houses, importing the best quality of Cuba wrappers 
and fillers, and employing skilled Havana workmen ; many 
of these workmen earn from forty to fifty dollars per week, 
and the segar packers as high as sixty dollars per week. 

The growth of the business of late years may be considered 
as due, in a great measure, to the immigration from Cuba, 
which commenced about 1872, growing out of the political 
commotions in that island. 

REVENUES. 

The revenues of the city paid into its own Treasury, the 
Customs revenue and Internal taxes paid into the Treasury of 
the United States, as well as the revenues paid into the 
Treasury of the State and County, from the property and 
business of this city, confirm its claim to be considered the 
Commercial Emporium of the State of Florida. 

To be as brief as possible, I will give only the revenues of 
the City for certain years. 

In 1831, $1,300. 1870, $ 5,300. 

1860, $2,900. 1875, $11,728. 

Up to 1829, the island had been held in common by the 
four proprietors, Messrs. Simon ton, Greene, Fleeming and 
John Whitehead. In that year it was surveyed and divided 
among these gentlemen according to their several interests ; 
the drawing for the separate lots and tracts of land taking 
place under the supervision of William A. Whitehead. 

In 1831, we find the population of the city to have been 
about 300, and by the United States census returns, that in 
1850 it was 2,367; in 1860, 2,832; and in 1870, 5,016. At 
the present time it is over 12,000 as has been before stated. 

The estimated value of property in the city in 1831, was 
$65,923, as assessed for taxable purposes. In 1875, it was 



$1,505,720 ; showing: an increase of values amounting to 
over one million four hundred thousand dollars. 

In 1831, we paid city taxes to the amount of $1,300. In 
1875, we paid .$11,728 ; showing an increase of ten thousand 
four hundred and twenty-eight dollars.' 

The amount of County and State taxes raised from this 
city in its earlier years cannot be ascertained ; but in 1873, 
the amount levied in this city for county purposes was 
$10,807, exclusive of auction taxes. In 1874, the amount 
of taxes levied on this city for state purposes was $18,500 ; 
for county purposes, $16,300. 

These amounts do not embrace the State and County 
auction tax, which in 1874, as appears by the Comptroller's 
report, was $1,796 from the entire state ; of which amount 
Key West paid $1,654. 

In 1875, the amount of taxes levied on this city for state 
purposes was $19,346 ; for county purposes, $16,253.00. 

For Internal Revenue to the United States, this city paid. 

For the year ending June 30th, 1872. .$ 75,800.00 
" " " 1873.. 100,543.59 

« " " 1874.. 110,165,32 

" " ". 1875.. 164,870.48 

"• " " 1876.. 192,035.80 



Total, $643,415.19 

It is estimated that the receipts from this source for the 
year 1877, will be $225,000; an amount not only larger 
than is paid hy any other city in the State, hut more thorn, is 
paid hy all the other cities in the State pttt together. 

The yearly average amount of money for money orders 



' It is worthy of remark that a portion of the amount thus raised, was 
from a license-tax on from twenty to twenty-five small carts, drawn by single 
goats, and driven by boys from eight to twelve years of age— used for the 
transportation of light articles from point to point in the city. It is doubtful if 
such a source of revenue exists in any other place in the United States. 



28 

issued at this Post Office, is $133,343 ; amount received 
for stamps and postage for year ending March 31st, 1876, 
$6,128.31. 

POSTAL FACILITIES. 

Let me pra)' you to possess your, souls in peace my fellow 
citizens, or those of you who rise in the morning and retire 
in the evening with the ever enduring cry, '' the mail steamer 
is not yet in sight." How enviable seems your case to-day 
to those of us who remember the postal facilities of forty 
years ago ! 

The first Post Office was established in February, 1829, and 
the first contract for mail service was awarded to the owners 
of a small sailing vessel called " The Post Boy," of about ten 
tons, to be performed monthly between Ciiarleston and this 
city. My old friend. Captain David Cole (now deceased), with 
all the advantages of good seamanship, knowledge of the 
coast, and superior education, was in command of this vessel, 
but for some ever good reason, the monthly trips generally 
consumed nearer fifty days than thirty. Cape Canaveral 
was to be doubled in the route, and never did the mariner 
scan the clouds in the effort to double Cape Horn with more 
solicitude than did this worthy skipper to effect the same 
result at Cape Canaveral, but from far different motives ; the 
one being proverbial for its storms, the other for its calms. 
Fretting did not bring the vessel any sooner than the winds 
and the current would permit. 

The mails were brought then with regular irregularity, as 
they are to-day, only a little more so, still some of us sur- 
vive the calamity, even at this distance of time. When thej' 
did arrive every body knew it. He who was not certain 
that his expected letter would be " prepaid " by his corres- 
pondent, put " a quarter " (twenty -five cents) in his pocket to 
satisfy good old " Uncle Sam," for the cost of transportation ■ 
— for that was the rate per letter at the time I speak of — and 
were you of the finer mould of clay, and patronised a news- 
paper, five cents more would put you all right with the Post 



29 

Master, for this then enviable means of information that other 
nations existed beside Key West. 

For part of the time in 1833, there was only one regular 
mail per month, and that via, St, Marks ; but this inconven- 
ient arrangement did nyt last long, a semi-monthly mail 
being established from Charleston ; and about 1835, Messrs. 
Lord and Stocker of Charleston, obtained the contract, and a 
better class of vessels served on the route. 

About 1848, Messrs. Mordecai and Company of Charleston, 
were contractors for this line, on which they placed a remark- 
ably fast and comfortable steamer called " Isabel," of about 
eleven hundred tons. The service was continued by this 
steamer until the commencement of the civil war. At the 
same time we were supplied with mails from ISTew Orleans 
via. St. Marks and gulf ports, by a line of steamers owned in 
New York by Messrs. Morgan and Company, up to the same 
period. 

During the time of service of the steamers before men- 
tioned, one could calculate with some certainty on the day, 
if not the hour, of their arrival. 

We have now a line of very fine steamers, owned by 
Messrs. Mallory and Company, large, safe and comfortable, 
which provide us with mails weekly, and as a general thing, 
their arrival from New York may be looked for each Thurs- 
day P. M. These vessels on their departure, which is a few 
hours after arrival, convey our western mail matter to Gal- 
veston, Texas. 

A line between Cedar Keys nnd this place has been in ex- 
istence for twelve years past, supplied by steam vessels. It 
has been in the hands of several contractors, who, it is believed, 
have made no money under the contract ; but who if objur- 
gations could fatten, might rival the obesity of a Daniel Lam- 
bert. They contract, it is said, for the performance of a 
weekly service. It might be to our advantage to cause the 
contract to be examined, for the purpose of ascertaining 
whether the stipulation is for a weekly or weakly service. True, 



30 

we get our letters for only three cents now, and our papers for 
two cents, and it is quite probable we shall soon get them for 
less. The cash down principle works well. You not only 
pay as you go, but pay "before you go by way of correspondence. 

How great cause for happiness, ^indeed, have our young 
people to-day with these advantages, superadded to which is 
the correspondence by means of electricity. Is the subject 
Love, Marriage or other husiness, post you to the telegraph 
oflSce on Greene street, near Fitzpatrick street, and the gen- 
tlemanly operator will transmit your every tliought and ex- 
pression over the apparently silent wire, lying on the bottom 
of the ocean, a hundred fathoms or more below its surface. 

The Inter-Ocean Telegraph Company, in 1867, com- 
menced to lay their sub-marine line ot telegraph cable from 
this island to the island of Cuba, and another to Punta Rassa, 
the former a distance of ninety-seven miles, and the latter of 
one hundred and twenty-three miles, connecting it by a line 
of wires three hundred and fifty miles on the main land, with 
the Western Union Telegraph Compan3^ This places us in 
connection with the West Indies via Jamaica, and the nations 
of the old world via New York, and the Atlantic Cable via 
Queenstown. 

Thus, you see, living as we do on an island in the sea, we 
possess advantages which those great men whose names to-day 
inspire thoughts leading to devotion, did not dreani of, much 
less enjoy. Nevertheless, it is their work. Of the tree of 
Liberty, planted by them one hundred years ago, we gather 
the fruit to-day. The silken cord attached to the kite flown 
in the air by Benjamin Franklin, in the fields near the city 
of Paris, in France, aided by the ingenuity and skill of a 
Morse, has furnished the happy opportunity of sending greet- 
ings to our fellow citizens assembled in Independence Hall in 
Philadelphia, as rapidly as the words can escape the lips, 
and before the echo has passed away. ' 

' See Appendix, Note J. 



31 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONS. 



For several years the inhabitants of Key West, held public 
religious services, in what is now known as the County Court 
House. The occasions were few, as only when some clergy- 
man might be transiently on the island, on his way to or from 
some other place, did an opportunity offer to engage in them. 

In March, 1831, by a resolution of the Town Council proposed 
by Mr. William A. Whitehead, a public meeting of the citi- 
zens was called for the purpose of adopting measures for 
obtaining the services of a clergyman, and the establishment 
of a school. The accession of several ladies of education 
and refinement to the society of the island, by the arrival of 
the families of several judicial and military officers, had 
worked a considerable change in the manners and customs of 
the place, so that the movement was made under more favor- 
able auspices than had previously existed.' 

It is unnecessary to go through the particulars which, after 
a delay of many months, led to the formation of the first 
Protestant Episcopal congregation in this city — that being 
the denomination that pioneered the way to our present 
ecclesiastical status. Suffice it to say that the entire church 
desiring portion of the population, however differently 
trained in matters of ritual, peculiarities of religious dog- 
mas, and sectarian prejudices, united for purposes of public 
devotion, under the name of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 
A large number of the residents were attached to that com- 
munion, and all others accorded to it their second choice, as 
their own preference could not then be gratified. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIANS. 

It may be interesting to many of my hearers, to learn the 
names of the gentlemen who first enrolled themselves for the 



' See Appendix, Note K. 



32 



very commendable purpbse of forming a congregation, in the 
year 1832. The act of association being signed on Christmas 
day, after morning service by the Rev. S. K. Brunot, who 
had arrived not long before and been placed in charge of the 
infant church. 



JaiMes Webb, 
Wm. a. Whitehead, 
David C. Pinkham, 
Fielding A. Browne, 
Thomas Eastin,, 
Alexander Patterson, 
A. H. Day, 
John W. Simonton, 
Adam Gordon. 
William H. Shaw, 
J. R. Western, 
William H. Wall, 
Theodore Owens, 
Eugene Trenor. 
L. A. Edmonston, 



Henry K. Newcomb, 
Francis D. Newcomb, 
Henry S. Waterhouse, 
Amos C. Tift, 
E. Van Evour. 
John Whitehead, 
Pardon C. Greene, 
Oliver O'Hara; 
George E. Weaver. 
Philip J. Fontan6, 
John J. Sands, 
Stephen R. Mallory, 
Francis Watlington, 
Charles M. Wells, 
John P. Baldwin. 



That winter, an Act of Legislature was obtained, incorpor- 
ating this congregation under the name of " St. Paul's 
Protestant Episcopal Churcli." The Rev. Mr. Brunot was 
from Pittsburg, Pa. He was only twenty -four years of age, 
and had not been long in the ministry. Being apprehensive, 
that he might become, like many of his family, a victim to 
consumption, if he continued a resident of the colder climate 
of the northern states, he determined to commence his servi- 
ces at Key West. He was warmly welcomed, and became 
the guest of Mr. William A. Whitehead ; but his health soon 
began to fail. After officiating only a few times, frequent 
hemorrhages put a stop effectually to further public services. 
In November, 1832, a Sunday-school was commenced, which 
in January, 1833, had between fifty and sixty children in 
attendance. Mr. Brunot left the island for Pittsburgh in 
May, 1833. and died soon after his arrival there in June. 



33 

There were frequent vacancies in the Rectorship thereafter, 
between the departure of one and the arrival of another 
clergyman, during some of which, attempts were made to 
keep up the interest of the congregation, by having Lay- 
readers and a Sunday-school. 

The following clergymen were in charge of the church 
during the periods named, Rev. Alvah Bennett of New York, 
from the Autumn of 1834, to April, 1835 ; Rev. Robert Dyce 
of Scotland, from August, 1836 to 1840 ; Rev. Gabriel Ford of 
New Jersey, 1840 to 1841 ; Rev. Mr. Hanson, succeeded him, 
and the Rev. C. C. Adams had charge from 1846 to March, 
1855. When he left, there were one hundred and two com- 
municants, and between thirty and forty condidates for 
confirmation. Subsequently, among others, were the Rev. 
O. E, Herrick, for some time, prior to 1871, and the Rev. 
John Reuther, in 1873. The gentleman who now holds the 
relation of Rector to that Church, the Rev. J. L. Steele, D.D., 
is before you officiating on this occasion. 

" Happy the man whose mind ordains, 

Good works his hands to do ; 
He on this earth reward obtains 

And marches heavenward too." 

The site for the erection of the Cliurch was the free gift 
of the widow of Mr. Fleeming, before spoken of, one of the 
original proprietors of the island. 

A lime stone church was erected on the corner of Eaton 
and Duval streets in 1840 ' — which was totally destroyed by 
the memorable hurricane of 1846 ; and in 1847, the present 
wooden edifice was erected. 

The membership at the present time is six hundred and 
forty. Number of Sunday-school children, three hundred and 
seventy. Teachers, forty. 



' It cost $6,500, and its dimensions were thirty-six feet by forty-six feet, and 
twenty-two feet high. It was finished m March, 1841, and contained thirty-six 
pews and a gallery at one end. 

5 



34 

During the latter part of the last year, another Protestant 
Episcopal Congregation has been organized under the name 
of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church. This society 
numbers about one hundred, with a Sunday-school attend- 
ance of forty pupils. It is composed of the colored members 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, At present they wor- 
ship in the Douglass school house on Jackson Square, and 
the services are conducted by the Rev. Dr. Steele, 

There is also connected with the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of this city, a Cuban Mission, organized among the 
Cuban inhabitants through the zealous labors of the same 
clergyman. The individual membership has not been fully 
ascertained, as they are enrolled chiefly as families, — eighty 
in number. A Sunday-school for the children has not yet 
been organized, but it is in a fair way to be established. 
Mr, J. B. Baez, a Cuban gentleman, is the Lay-reader to this 
congregation, 

THE METHODISTS. 

Among the many very worthy persons who came among 
us in the year 1837, may be specially named one, who though 
dead, still lives in the sacred regards of his contemporaries. 
I allude to Mr. Samuel Kemp. This gentleman, good and 
pious, worshipped with those of us who resorted to the Court 
House for that purpose, for some time ; but soon after erected 
at his own expense (assisted in the labor by some of his 
neighbors who were mechanics) a small building for public 
worship, on land owned by himself, immediately opposite the 
present residence of Dr. Harris, on Caroline street near 
Grinnell, This was the first place of public worship in which 
the denomination known as " Wesleyan Methodists," congre- 
gated in this city ; and which gave rise to all the others, 

" Father Kemp," as he was usually called from reason of 
his advanced age, and his somewhat clerical demeanor, ofiici- 
ated as the pastor of this small congregation, and was often 
assisted in the devotional exercises of his church, or chapel, 



35 

by Captain Ogden, of the United States army, stationed here 
at the time. 

The congregation becoming too numerous to be accom- 
modated in this small building, a large one was erected 
on the lot on Caroline street, on which stands at present, the 
house occupied by Mr. William Weatherford, between Simon- 
ton and Elizabeth streets ; this, in its turn, becoming too 
uncomfortably filled, produced the necessity for another loca- 
tion, which was happily supplied by Mr. William C. Greene, 
who presented the congregation with the lot on which now 
stands the present house of worship, known as the First Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, at the corner of Eaton and Simonton 
streets. 

It was the intention of the members of this congregation 
to have a stone building for its use, and this intention was so 
far carried into effect as to erect the four walls ; but the 
hurricane of 1846 levelled them to the ground. Simon Peter 
Eichardson, the minister then in charge, was not the man to 
sit down and weep long over this great calamity. He took 
ship, and making his and our distresses known, secured funds 
to erect the present church. The building has, however, been 
lengthened, and is now forty by sixty feet, and will seat com- 
fortably eight hundred persons. 

Its membership in 1872, was sixty-eight. Its present mem- 
bership is two hundred and fifty-three, — forty-six of whom 
are Cubans. The number of its Sabbath-school scholars is 
three hundred and twenty. Teachers, twenty-seven. The 
present Pastor is the Rev. C. A. Fulwood. 

The first African Methodist Episcopal Church on the 
Island is situated on Whitehead street extended, just outside 
the present city limits. Its erection is principally due to the 
energy of Sandy Cornish and Cataline Simmons, both col- 
ored men ; the former since dead, the latter now in charge of 
a church in the city of Jacksonville, where he is highly 
respected by all the principal citizens of that place. This 
church was erected in 1865, and there being no ordained col- 



36 

ored minister here at that time, services were chiefly conduc- 
ted by Sandy and Cataline. Its membership is about three 
hundred. Sunday -school scholars, one hundred and forty-live. 
Present minister Eev. Thomas Darley. This Church now 
bears the name, " Ziou African Methodist Episcopal Church." 

In 1860, a portion of the congregation of the " First 
Methodist Episcopal Church South," discontinuing their con- 
nection with that church, organized themselves into a society 
under the name of ''Sparks' Chapel," and Kev. J. O. A. 
Sparks became the lirst regular pastor. 

At the time of its organization it numbered eighty-seven 
members, with a Sabbath-school attendance of forty children. 
It now numbers one hundred and ninety-eight members, with 
a Sabbath-school of one hundred and fifty pupils. The 
church is situated at the corner of Fleeming and William 
streets. Present pastor, Rev W. R. Johnson. . 

There is also a congregation of colored Methodists known 
as "African Methodist Episcopal, of the Bethel Connection," 
under the care of the Rev. B. W. Roberts. The Church is 
situated on Duval street, and was built principally through 
the exertions of the Rev. Allen Dean, (colored) in 1870. 

Its present membership is one hundred and seventy-three. 
Sabbath-school scholars, forty. 

THE BAPTISTS. 

The Missionary Baptist Church on Eaton street, between 
Simonton and Duval streets, under the charge of the Rev. 
Mr. Tripp, was erected in 1848. Present membership, 
seventy. Sabbath-school scholars, thirty. Rev. C. S. Rey- 
nolds, is the pastor. 

A portion of the colored population of the city of this 
denomination, preferring to worship in a church under their 
exclusive control, caused to be erected in 1870, the present 
edifice on Thomas street extended, beyond the city limits, 
which is now under the pastoral charge of Rev. Albert Lewis. 
Its membership is about one hundred. Number of children 
attending the Sabbath-school, ninety-three. 



si 



THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. 

Previous to 1845, the visits of a Roman Catholic Priest 
seldom occurred. About that time, however, Rev. Father 
Corcoran came to the city, and occasionally celebrated mass 
in the then City Hall at the foot of Duval street. The Roman 
Catholic families at that time were not more than fifteen ; 
numbering, probably, not more than one hundred persons. 
Between 1850 and 1852, a church was erected, and still stands 
on Duval Street, between Eaton and Fleeming Streets. In 
1852, this church was consecrated by the Right Rev. Father 
Gartland, Bishop of Savannah ; the dedication sermon being 
preached by the Rev. Dr. Cumming. The Church is known 
by the name of " St. Mary's Star of the Sea." 

The Roman Catholic population had but little increased at 
that time in numbers, but considerably in wealth. In 1870, 
the church was repaired and enlarged to its present size, for 
the better accommodation of the very large addition to the 
population of the city from Cuban immigration, the majority of 
whom are of the Roman Catholic Faith. The number of 
American origin may be estimated at one thousand, and of 
Cuban and of other foreign countries, four thousand. The 
number of Sunday-school children two hundred and fifty. 

The church is at present supplied with two clergymen ; 
Rev. Father La Rocque, Pastor, assisted by Rev. Father Ber- 
nier. 

Thus, my friends, from the pious forethought of the thirty 
gentlemen whose names to-day survive the mortal frames of 
almost all of them, the gratifying picture of the ecclesiastical 
portion of the history of your city is presented ; and well may 
the two survivors of that highly privileged number, ( Messrs. 
Whitehead and Watlington) view with pride the fruits spring- 
ing from that grain of mustard seed sown by their hands. 

BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. 

The numerous Benevolent Societies which exist in our city, 
constitute one of its marked features. 



38 

The " Free and Accepted Masons," first in point of time, 
organized in this city January 31st, 1844, with eight members. 
It consists to-day of one hundred and fifty members. An 
organization known as the " Sons of Temperance," existed in 
1845, and continued in existence until 1862. Francis Wat- 
lington and Joseph C. Whalton, Senior, were prominent in 
bringing this society into existence. It effected much good, 
and many live to-day to acknowledge its advantages to indi- 
viduals, and to society at large. 

In 1868, another society known as " Island Koyal Arch 
Chapter, No. 21," was organized, and now numbers fifty; in 
1870, the " Munroe Council, No. 4," now numbering thirty- 
two ; and in 1872 the the " Baron Commandery," which now 
number thirty-one. 

The same year another society was organized under the 
name of " Dr. Felix Yarela Lodge, No. 64," composed of 
Cuban residents, which now numbers fifty-five. 

Of the "Independent Order of Odd Fellows," the "Key 
West Lodge, No. 13," with a present membership of sixty, 
was organized 1872. The " Key West Encampment, No. 5," 
organized July 4, 1875, now has thirty members. The "Cuba 
Lodge, No. 15," organized 1875, has thirty members. 

Of Grand United Order Odd Fellows, "St. Michael's, No. 
1530, " organized 1873, has eighty members. " St. Agnes', 
No. 1696,(" organized in 1875, has thirty-five members. " St_ 
Rafael, No. 1706," (Cuban), organized in 1876, has thirty 
members. 

The " Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 12," (colored), organized 
in 1875, has forty members. 

Of the Independent Order of Grand Templars, "Island 
City Lodge, No. 9," organized in 1874, numbers eight hun- 
dred ; " Sons of the Future, No. 10," organized in 1874, has 
one hundred and eighty members. " Unity, No. 11," or- 
ganized in 1874, has three hundred and eighty members. 
" Rising Star, No. 13," organized in 1875, has eighty mem- 
bers. 



39 

The United Order True Reformers " Crystal Fountain, 
No. 1," organized in 1875, numbers two hundred. 

The Knights of Jericho, '" Austral Lodge, No. 18," organ- 
ized in 1875, has thirty-five members. 

The Templars of Honor and Temperance, " Coral Tem- 
ple," organized in 1875, numbers seventy-two. " Southern 
Star Council," organized in 1876, has thirty members. "Clin- 
ton Benevolent Society," organized in 1865, has a member- 
ship of two hundred. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

We find from the last census that fifteen hundred children 
in this city were attending school in 1875. In going back for 
data on a subject which must interest all of us, we find very 
little information on the subject, The earliest school of 
which we have any information, was kept by the Rev. 
Alvah Bennett in 1834-5, he being then in charge of St. Paul's 
Congregation. It was only kept a few months, as Mr. Ben- 
nett returned to the, north in April, 1835. During its contin- 
uance, Mr. Bennett realized from it about thirty dollars per 
week. The next, as appears from an advertisement, in April, 
1835, by Mr. Alden A. Jackson, a son-in-law of Judge Webb, 
was taught by him in the County Court House at from two to 
four dollars per month, according to the branches studied. 
What success attended his efibrt I know not. Subsequently 
( about 1839), Rev. Mr. Dyce, of St. Paul's Church, taught in 
the same place. At this period, no public funds for schools 
existed. 

In 1843, provision was made for paying from the county 
taxes for the education of the children of those persons who 
were unable to pay ; about thirty scholars were at that time 
taught at the public expense. For each scholar, one dollar 
per month was paid, the teacher providing his own school- 
room. The school-house, in that year and the next, was sit- 
uated on Front street. There are some present who doubtless 
remember it, and the hand that wielded the ferule within, 
without my being more particular. 



40 

Attention to the subject of education began thus to impress 
the minds of our citizens, and we will pass over the inter- 
vening period to refer more particularly to the institutions of 
learning now existing among us. 

In September, 1870, a public school, now bearing the name 
of " Sears' School," was opened in Masonic Hall, on Simon - 
ton street, between Caroline and Eaton streets, with about 
two hundred scholars and a corps of four teachers 

In 1874, this school was removed into the new building 
erected for its accommodation on Simonton street, between 
Fleeming and Southard streets ; having at that time three 
hundred pupils and five teachers. At present the number of 
scholars is five hundred and fifty, with eight teachers. Mr. 
Justin M. Copeland is the present principal. 

Another public school called " The Douglass' School," was 
organized in 1870, for the education of the colored children of 
our city. It now numbers about three hundred pupils. Mr. 
William M. Artrell being the principal. 

There are also quite a number of private schools, the prin- 
cipal one of which is taught by Miss Euphemia Lightbourn. 
assisted by Miss Mellie Bethel. They have eighty pupils. 
The next, as regards numbers, is that of Mrs. Henr}^ Baldwin, 
which has about forty. 

Previous to 1868 there was no school kept se]mrately for the 
education of children of persons professing the Eoman Catholic 
faith. In that year a number of ladies, known as the " Sisters 
of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary," of the faith inculcated 
by that Church, came from Canada to this island, and imme- 
diately located themselves in a frame building inmied lately 
opposite the present light-house, — on or near the dividing line 
between tracts three and four, on the original map of the 
island, or at the junction of "Whitehead and Division streets, 
as shown by Tift's map, — and commenced teaching a school 
for white girls. In 1875, they laid the foundation of a new 
building, or convent, in tract twelve (original survey) where 
they now teach a large number of young ladies, both of our 



41 

city and from abroad. This building is of limestone, quar- 
ried on this island. It is not yet tinished, but when com- 
pleted it will rank among the finest educational institutions 
of the State, both in its structure as a building, and as to the 
finished instruction given to the youthful attendants. 

The same community of Sisters in 1869 established a 
school for white boys, which is now a select Parochial school, 
under the supervision of the pastor of St, Mary's Church, 
and is conducted by a lay teacher, Mr. I. Cappick. The 
number of pupils attending this school is about fift3^ The 
course of studies consists chiefly of the English and Com- 
mercial branches, with the Latin elements. 

Under the direction of the same Sisters, a school for Cuban 
girls (Spanish speaking) was established in 1873, and in 1875 
a school for colored girls. The number of girls educated in 
these three schools exceed three hundred. 

Many young ladies have graduated in the convent school, 
and upon several occasions, I have by invitation, served on 
Committees of Examination, thus enabling me to speak ad- 
visedly of the institution. Many of the graduates have been 
of the Protestant faith, and reflect great credit on the capa- 
bilities of the devout Sisters. 



STORMS AND FIRES. 

The hurricane of 1846, before referred to, was perhaps the 
most destructive of any that had visited these latitudes 
within the memory of man. The light house on Whitehead's 
point on our island was totally destroyed, with all the mem- 
bers of the keeper's family, seven in number ; most of the 
dwellings in the city were seriously injured or totally de- 
stroyed, and a large number of horses and horned cattle blown 
into the sea, or killed by missiles of timber and slate from 
surrounding buildings. The yearly apprehended equinoctial 
6 



42 

storms wliicli liave since ])revailed, liave left no record of 
violence of sufficient importance to notice.' 

The first fire of ;ny consequence was in 1843, when the 
large wooden warehouse of F. A. Browne, standing on the 
soutii side of Simonton street, near the water, was destroyed. 

A fire company existed at that time which was organized 
about 1836, with Mr. Joseph A. Thouron, foreman, and about 
twenty-five members. The engine belonging to this company 
was purchased by means of subscription, was never of much 
use, and after the removal of Mr. Thouron to Charleston, 
was entirely neglected. At the time of the destruction of 
Mr. Browne's warehouse it was brought upon the scene, but 
proving unfit for use, was contemptuously and indignantly 
hurled into the sea from the wharf. 



' On the 19th and 20th of October, 1876, as these pages were passing through 
the press, an unusually violent gale was experienced. Some indications 
of its approach were manifest on the 18th, and from 1 A. M. of the 19th, the 
barometer gave sure evidence of its presence. At that hour the mercurial 
column stood at 29.55 inches, and eacli hour thereafter it was lower, until at 
8 P. M. it stood at 28.73 inches. It then commenced rising, and at 4 A. M. of 
the 2Cth had returned to 29.50 inches, but the storm did not abate its fury un- 
til J about 2 P. M. of that day. During part of the time the wind travelled at 
the rate of sixty-six miles per hour. Tlie heavy rain and the breaches from 
the sea caused an overflow of the streets iu the business part of the city. Con- 
siderable damage was done to roofs, fences, and trees, and missiles hurled 
through the air, rendered it, at times, dangerous to be in the streets, some of 
which were greatly obstructed by the accumulation of boats, lumber, etc., 
floated into them. The vessels in the harbor were all more or less injured, 
while along the reef were some cases of shipwreck. The salt works suffered 
greatly, as did also all kinds of tropical fruits. When the tempest was at its 
height, especially during the night, great anxiety prevailed. It was very dark, 
excepting when the vivid flashes of lightning revealed the devastating pro- 
cesses at work, but the amount of damage was less than there was rea.son to 
anticipate. The wind was from Northeast to East, but toward the close veered 
to the Northwest and Southwest with equal fury. The report of the Signal 
Bureau at Washinjrton states that the first notice of tliis gale was on the 
17lh, on the South side of Cuba, whence its central path was directly over 
Havana and slightly to the eastward of Key West. It left the Peninsula on 
its undefined course North Eastwardly, south of Indian River. 



43 

Thereafter, happily, and ahnost miraculously, were the 
ravaa^es of that destructive element " Fire," escaped for a 
period longer perhaps than follow the fortunes of cities con- 
structed almost entirely of wood. But the time at last 
arrived when we were made to feel its blighting breath. 
While locked in the arms of sleep and fancied security, the 
" Fire King," took possession, and for eight long hours of the 
19th of May, 1859, revelled in his wanton fury. From the 
corner of Simonton street to Whitehead street, including 
every building save two, in the four blocks between Front 
and Greene streets, all that remained was ashes. No organ- 
ized body of firemen existed in the city at that time, and no 
hooks-and-ladders, fire buckets or other apparatus necessary 
for the occasion were on hand. The extensive warehouses, 
and other stores of Messrs. O'Hara and W^ells, occupying the 
place where Curry's warehouse and Cash's store now stands, 
between Simonton and Duval streets ; the store-houses of 
Fontane and Weaver, Wall and Company, Packer and Boye, 
P. A. Gandolfo, C. and E. Howe, and, in fact, all the busi- 
ness portion of the town, before the sun had passed its zenith 
on that day became smouldering ruins. 

ManA^ of our citizens attribute the preservation of the 
remaining portion of the city to the thoughtful and daring 
action of Mr. Henry Mulreuon, who, having procured a keg 
of gunpowder from Fort Taylor, entered his own house on 
the corner of Fitzpatrick and Greene streets, then in immi 
nent peril, but as yet unharmed, and placing the keg in 
position laid the train and blew the house up, to prevent the 
fire crossing the street and communicating with the large 
building occupied by Captain Geiger. 

These two events, the hurricane and the fire, measurably 
interrupted our progress at the times of their occurrence, but 
the effects were speedily overcome by the activity and energy 
of the sufferers. Fortunately no lives were lost on this occa- 
sion, nor did we stop to shed unavailing tears over our 
misfortunes. The sun rose on the morning after the fire, to 



44 ^^ 

behold active limbs and stout hearts clearing the ground of 
the debris, and the waning moon of the succeeding night 
shone upon the bright hammer of the mechanic, as he drove 
firmly home the yielding nail, in the construction of tempo- 
rary buildings, soon to become, once more, the busy bustling 
mart of trade. 

On the morning of 17th February of the present year, a 
fire was discovered in a building owned bv Mr. John White 
on Front street, (lot 2, square 16) occupied by a Cuban family. 
.The days of miracles, it is said, have passed: but our present 
gallant fire company, organized in November, 1875, claim 
the merit of having saved from desv,ruction the residence of 
Judge Locke, in such close proximity to the scene, as to make 
its preservation marvelous if not miraculous. The visible 
agency and commendable exertions of the fire company on 
the occasion, being admitted, and warmly acknowledged on 
all sides, their claim must be allowed to stand, until over- 
borne by other and superior evidence. The loss of two lives 
by suffocation in the burning building, before the alarm was 
given, detracts nothing from the claim preferred by the tire 
company, and can only be regarded as a distressing incident 
of the occurrence. 

This is the only opportunity the company, (having Mr. A. 
H. Dorsett for foreman, and one hundred and three members) 
has had to exhibit its etiiciency, and long may it be ere other 
or greater use will have to be made of its apparatus, than has 
been afforded by the pleasant joyous parade of to-day.' 

NEWSPAPERS. 

My fellow citizens, could another have occupied the place, 
where the authorities of your city have graciously permitted 
me to stand, many events connected with our early history, 
might have been recounted which would have added to the 



' A fire took place at Captain Alderslade's residence on the 4lh, while read- 
ing this sketch, which was extinguished without any material loss. 



45 

interest of the occasion. To Mr. William A. Whitehead, 
now of New Jersey, should be awarded the credit of having 
been the first to enorage in the preparation and preservation 
of the earliest incidents connected with the settlement of 
your island, even before you had the right to claim the proud 
title of " citizens of the United States." Mr. Whitehead 
ceased to be one of your citizens in 1838, and returned to 
the North.' 

To his consideration we are this day indebted for bound 
volumes of the newspapers published in this city in the 
years 1831, 1832, and those from 1834 to 1836. These vol- 
umes so illustrative of your early existence as a city, were 
presented by him in 1869, for "preservation in the office of 
the clerk of Monroe county," as the inscription testifies. 

Probably not more than a dozen of my hearers in this over- 
crowded hall, know this fact. Although the thanks of the 
County Commissioners were formerly voted to Mr. White- 
head in August 3d, 1871, no one (including myself,) has ever 
learned, that jpubliG acknowledgment has ever been tendered 
to that gentleman. 

It must be mentioned regretfully, that at the present time 
it is not possible to obtain a full edition of any of the other 
newspapers previous by or subsequently published in the city. 
The first newspaper " The Register," was commenced in 
January, 1829, under the management of Thomas Eastin, sub- 
sequently United States Marshal, but was short lived. The 
" Gazette ■' and " The Inquirer," were the next in order, 
and are those above referred to as received from Mr. White- 
head. 

A few copies only of the " Light of the Reef," published 
by Ware and Scarborough in 1844-45, are known to be in 
existence, and the same may be said of all the following. 

In 1845, " The Key of the Gulf," made its first appearance 
under the editorial auspices of E. L. Ware, our present 

' See Appendix, Note L. 



46 



n 



efficient Post Master, and after years of death-like slumber 
awoke to life in 1857, guided by the genial, but erratic pen of 
William H. Ward, who in obedience to what he doubtless 
considered obligatory as a patriotic citizen of his state, aban- 
doned the field of argument in 1861 ; laying aside the weapon 
of the sage for that of the soldier, to try issues of law and 
ethics on the field of battle, whence he never returned. 

In 1862-63, a paper called the " JSTew Era," was published 
by R. B. Locke, an ofiicer of the Ninetieth Regiment, New 
York Volunteers. 

In 1867, the " Key West Dispatch," published by W. C. 
Maloney, Jr., appeared, and continued to be published by the 
same gentleman, until 1872, when it passed into the hands of 
H. A. Crane, as editor and publisher. It is at the present 
time under the editorial guidance of E. L. Ware, and pub- 
lished by C. T. F. Clarke. 

In 1870, the " Key West Guardian," arose with porcupine 
armor to correct the evils of the day, and after a brief exis- 
tence, our brother of the quill, Mr. R. C. Neeld philosophically 
bethought himself, that 

" He that fights and runs away. 
May live to fight another day." 

Having discovered a sta/r in the north, he seized his dagger^ 
and putting a period to the life of our " Guardian,"" hastily 
made a dash tor Tampa, making there a rest, and spreading 
his sheet in that ancient village. It was, however, soon folded 
up ; the want of space being a serious ha/r to the develop- 
ment of the genius of its perambulating author. 

The "Key of the Gulf" in 1874, once more made its ap- 
pearance under the editorial charge of Mr. Crane, and is 
conducted at the present time by the same gentleman, who 
has recently associated with him, C. S. Reynolds. 

This last named paper and the " Dispatch," are believed 
to be well supported, considering the very few English-speak- 
ing people of the city, who take an interest in affairs of 
which newspapers treat. 



47 

A paper printed in the Spanish languajo^e called " El Eepub- 
licano," has been printed in the city for the past four years. 
The struggle for Liberty in Cuba, seems to animate all classes 
and sexes of the people of tliat misgoverned island who have 
sought our shores, and the patronage of the paper may be 
said to be all sufficient to sustain it. 

HEALTH OP THE CITY. 

There can be no subject embraced in the history of your 
city, gentlemen of the City Council, of more importance to 
its welfare than the measure of health to be enjoyed by its 
citizens. I regret that statistics bearing upon the topic have 
been so grossly neglected. 

From a table compiled by Mr. Whitehead, I am enabled 
to give a statement of the mortality of your city, at a com- 
paratively early period ; and from your present Health 
Ofl&cer that of the past and present year. Mr. Whitehead's 
record gives the total of deaths in eight years as two hundred 
and thirteen, including both residents and non-residents, 
many of the latter having been brought to the island sick ; 
but not including a few soldiers who died during the two 
last years of the period. 





MALE. 




FEMALE. 


TOTAL. 


1829 


33 




16 


49' 


1830 


10 




4 


14 


1831 


18 




4 


22 


1832 


18 




3. 


21 


1833 


20 




1 


27" 


1834 


23 




1 


30 


1835 


(Sexes 


not 


stated.) 


13 


1836 


16 




11 


16 


1837 


(Sexes 


not stated.) 


21, 



Total in nine years, 213 

The diseases producing these deaths are also given, but the 
details would be tiresome for you to listen to. Let it suffi.ce 

' Some fevers prevailed. ''Some few cases of Cholera. 



48 

to say that, intemperance and consumption — notwithstanding 
cholera to some small extent prevailed, gave the greatest num- 
ber to the grave. It should be borne in mind also that this 
was upon the ver}'- threshold of the settlement of the Island, 
when it was necessary to clear the land of its native growth, 
in order to make room for the habitations of men ; and when 
the residents were necessarily subjected to many privations, 
and without proper means for the preservation or recovering 
of their health. 

From the present Health Officers' report, it appears that 
the number of deaths in the year 1875, was two hundred and 
sixty-eight. Remember that this was one of our yellow 
fever years, and w^hat do we find from this report to have 
been the number of cases of that disease, so much dreaded as 
to have caused the army to retreat in haste, if not in disor- 
der, and the navy to abandon our waters? The insignificant 
number of thirty-five ; whereas, we find by th-e same report 
that deaths to the number of thirty-nine, (four more than that 
from yellow fever) were caused by Phthisis Pulmonalis ; 
otherwise called Consumption. And to the last day of the 
past month, the first six months of the present year, the 
number of deaths was one hundred and forty-six, a fraction 
over fourteen to the thousand. Of this number seventy-eight 
were infants under seven years, (sixty-eight of w^hom were 
under two years,) and twenty-two between fifty and ninety.' 

So far as health is dependent upon equability of tempera- 
ture and salubrious winds, we certainly have no cause for 
apprehension. The prevalence of our Trades for nearly two 
thirds of the year, affords little scope for the injurious effects 
of malarious influences, and the extreme range of the mercury 
in the shade, from the meteorological observations made at 
different periods, appears to have been only 54 degrees ; 95° 
being the maximum, recorded in several years, and the 
minimum 41°, recorded in 1868. The lowest temperature 

' See Appendix, Note M. 



49 

previous recorded was 44° in the winter of 1836-7, when 
great damage was done to the orange and other fruit trees on 
the main land. 

The mean temperature of the last year from July 1st, 1875, 
to June 30th, 1876, according to the observations of Mr. 
Melbourne, was 77.7° ; differing but little from the result of 
observations made at the Custom House from 1829 to 1838 
inclusive. The mean during that period being 77.3°. The 
rain-fall the last year was 39.23 inches, nearly eight inches 
above the average of Mr. Whitehead's observations.' 

THE POND. 

As a precautionary measure against malarial influences, 
the city authorities, by the charter of 1838, were prohibited 
from filling up the streets running through a portion of the 
city at that time known as " The Pond." By looking at 
Whitehead's original map of the island, it will be perceived 
that it covered the land on which the City Hall is erected, 
and was in reality an inlet from the waters of the harbor, 
the entrance to which was from the north, about midway be- 
tween Greene and Front streets, passing the site where stood 
for several years the blacksmith shop of the city. Crossing 
Simonton street it spread out so as to include at Ann street 
nearly the whole space between Grreene and Front streets, and 
extended southerly fully three hundred and fifty feet in width, 
to the south side of Duval street, and then southwesterly, grad- 
ually diminishing in width, until it reached Whitehead street 
near the corner of Caroline street, where its dimensions were 
merely those of a narrow stream, and terminated in the oppo- 
site lot, where now stands the stone building used as the United 
States Court House. At some stages of the tides the whole 
of this area was an unbroken sheet of water. With the ex- 
ception of a portion bordering on Ann street, between Front 



> See Appendix, Notes N, 0, P aud Q. 

7 



50 

and Greene streets, all this valuable business portion of your 
city is now occupied by mau}^ large factories, stores and pri- 
vate residences. Not only were the authorities of the city 
restricted from filling up the streets, but the owners of lots 
covered by said pond were also restrained from so filling them 
up as to impede the flux and reflux of the tide. 

For many years a foot-bridge existed on Duval street, com- 
mencing near the present St. James Hotel, and running to 
within a few feet of the corner of Caroline street. This 
bridge was of the rudest construction, built soon after the 
settlement, and was often out of repair, but nevertheless was 
travelled by the young bloods and damsels of our cit}' at tliat 
day, for the frequent and pleasurable opportunities afforded 
of more closely drawing the arm of the timid young lad}^ to 
the side of her escort, or, perhaps, of officiously taking the 
unnerved hand in assurance of protection. The young gen- 
tlemen of to-day enjoy no such happiness. 

A shorter bridge, ten or fifteen feet in length, afforded a 
passage across the entrance to the pond, about on the line 
of Simonton street, was a more durable structure and kept 
in better repair for the passage of drays and other vehicles, 
it being the only crossing place to get to the northern pai'f 
of the island, unless the circuitous route via. Whitehead 
street was taken, but it fails to awaken the pleasurable recol- 
lections of the fornier. There was also a small bridge over 
the stream on Whitehead street. They are of the past ; 
known to but few ; with a sigh, if not a tear, let their exis- 
tence be committed to history. 

The great gale of October 11th, 1846, so altered the config- 
uration of the island by the washing up of the sand, that the 
pond ceased to receive the tides, and the consequences ap- 
prehended as the result that might follow (which caused 
the restriction in the the charter of 1836, against filling up 
the streets or lots in the pond, which restriction was omitted 
in subsequent charters,) not having occurred, it was taken up 
by the city authorities themselves in 1853, and an ordinance 



51 

passed in November of that year, required the respective 
ovi^ners of the submerged lots to fill them in. 

These lots being now in the hands of various owners, some 
of them complied with the terms of the ordinance, others 
suffered the work to be done by the city, and paid the costs 
of the filling ; others again refused either to fill in or pay the 
expense incurred therefor. 

The particular lot in this pond, on which the City Hall is 
erected, was yet owned by Mr. John W. Simon ton, the* orig- 
inal proprietor of the island. This lot was also tilled in by 
the city, the proprietor being absent. The city went through 
the farce of selling the same at auction, and became the pur- 
chaser. Mr. Simonton, during his lifetime, took no notice of 
these proceedings, but to some of his particular friends inti- 
mated his willingness that the city should possess the land. 

In 1871, and after the death of Mr, Simonton, the city 
authorities engaged my services to clear up the muddle which 
attached to the proceedings touching this lot, in consequence 
of the negligence of tiieir predecessors, and although a law- 
yer, / sedulously avoided the courts of law, having had 
many lessons in the "law's delay," 'and went at once to 
" Equity " before two ladies. " Strange Judges," I think 
I hear from my young student friends. Kot strange at all, 
young gentlemen. When you have been in the profession 
as long as I have, you will have learned that it is more safe 
to court two ladies on a point of honor and patriotism than 
all tlie judges of our own sex that ever wore long gowns and 
wigs, or any twelve men in a jury box. 

Regard for truth, however, compels me to admit that I 
was not the only suitor before this honorable Court. I had 
the generous aid of Mr. Mallory and Mr, Moreno, the first 
the legal adviser, and the other the local agent of Mr. Simon- 
ton, during his lifetime. 

On June 30th, 1871, Miss Mary B. Jones, Execu- 
trix of her father, Dr. Jones, of Washington Cit}-^, the Trus- 
tee of Miss Florida Simonton (the only surviving heir of Mr. 



52 

S.) and Miss Simonton, the cestui que trusty (beinsj of lawful 
age), gave judgment in my favor, and the city on that day 
obtained from Miss Jones, as Trustee ex-officio^ a conveyance 
for this lot. 

You will heartily join me, I am assured, in making this 
proper and public acknowledgment to these generous ladies. 

BURIAL GROUNDS. 

The first graves were made on the western beach, between 
the town and Whitehead's Point, and in 1830, a visitor on the 
island described them as being marked by a " few plain 
stones to tell that the possessors of the little tenements below, 
once lived and died, but the majority have merely the stones 
marking the length of each, but — 

" Who sleeps below? Who sleeps below ? " 
Is an idle question now. 

In 1831, a committee was appointed by the Town Council 
to select a proper site for the permanent location of a general 
burial place. Part of tract fifteen, lying between the ter- 
mination of Whitehead street on the south beach and the 
point, was selected and used until IB-iT, when the present 
cemetery grounds were purchased. The destructive hurri- 
cane of 11th October, 1846, not only added largely to the 
number of our dead, but disinterred many who had been 
buried in the old tract. This circumstance give rise to the 
necessity of seeking another place for sepulture. 

Up to this time the friends of the Northman and the 
Southron, the negro slave and his Caucasian master, the 
wealthy and the poor of all religious denominations, content 
with the Rites of christian burial, laid the bodies of their 
dead side by side to wait the final call at the general resur- 
rection. 

In 1868, the Rt. Rev. the Bishop of St. Augustine, secured 
from the City Council, the grant of three hundred feet square 
of an unoccupied portion of these grounds, for the considera- 



63 

tion of " One Dollar ; " and as the conve3'ance reads, " to be 
devoted to the excluswe use of a Catholic burying ground, by 
and under the control of the said Bishop and his successors 
in office." 

MONROE COUNTY. 

When in jSTovember, 1828, the iirst division of the Terri- 
tory of Florida into counties was made for representative 
and other purposes, (the Territory, before that time, having 
been governed by an organic law of Congress and a council 
authorized by that act) ; Monroe County, so named after the 
then President, comprised no insignificant portion of the 
Territory, as reference to the map of the (now) State will 
show. It commenced at Boca Gasparilla, on the Gulf of 
Mexico, extending up to the mouth of Charlotte river ; thence 
up to the northern margin of that river to Lake Macaco ; 
thence along the margin of that lake to its most eastern 
limit ; thence in a direct line to the head waters of Poto- 
mac river ; thence down said river to its entrance into the 
ocean : together with all the Keys and Islands off the Cape 
of Florida. 

In 1836, out of these magnificent boundaries was carved 
another county called " Dade" — so named to perpetuate the 
name of one of the officers sacrificed in the Indian war. 
Major Dade, who went with his command from Key West 
to fall victims on their way inland from Tampa Bay. The 
boundaries of our county have several times since been re- 
duced, sti]] it is large. The greater part is covered with 
water, but it is nevertheless of great value. Not taking into 
account the amount consumed by the, population of this city, 
we export as the products of these waters annually — 

Of Live Fish $100,000 

Of Salted Fish 30,000 

Of Live Turtle '. 10,000 

Of Sponges 100.000 

Making a total of $240,000, not included in the amount of 
exports as shown by Custom House records. 



54 

The following ligures show the number of inhabitants 
within the county at the different decades, according to the 
United States' enumerations : 

WHITES. COLORED. SLATES. TOTAL. 

1830 368 83 66 517 

1840' 516 76 96 688 

1850 2,088 126 431 2,645 

1860 2,302 160 451 2,913 

1870 4,631 1,026 .. 5,657 

True, our county cannot show the broad and extensive 
acreage of the others in cotton fields, (perhaps a providential 
blessing), but sufficient under our semi-tropical climate to be 
of great value. Ten years ago the man who talked even of 
producing the pineapple as an article of commerce was looked 
upon as a fit subject for the pleasant embraces of a straight- 
jacket. Behold to-day the pineapples and other tropical 
fruits, the result of the enterprise and industry of Benjamin 
and Henry Baker at Key Largo,* and of others on our hith- 
erto neglected islands, and bear in mind that almost all the 
lands in your county are public lands, obtainable under the 
Homestead Act of Congress, for such trifling sums as the 
perfection of the necessary papers required. 

Look around upon our own little island, this " Gem of the 
Sea," and view the majestic Date-Palm with its many clus- 
tered branches of fruit, the tall and statel}' Cocoanut, the 
Lime, Lemon, Grape, Pomegranate, Guava, Sapadillo, Ban- 
ana, Orange, xMango, Citron, Fig, Plum, Sugar-cane, and 
various other fruits and plants. ^ 

All these things we know can be produced on every acre 
of land in our county, because we see them daily growing 



' Key West only. It appears that no enumeration was made that 3'ear at 
the other settlements. The population of Dade county since it was set off from 
Monroe in 1836, has been as follows : 1840, 446; 1850, 159; 1860, 83; 1870, 85. 

^The hurricane of October 19th and 20th, 1876, before alluded to, destroyed 
th e pineapple grove of the Messrs. Baker. 



55 

around us in our own enclosures, on this comparativel}'^ un- 
productive island. 

Look at our meteorological records.' The almost uniform 
temperature, equalling that of Italy or the South of France, 
and not obtainable elsewhere on this broad continent of 
North America, gives to the portion of the State which we 
inhabit, an almost exclusive monopoly of agricultural pur- 
suits, in all the tropical fruits and vegetables raised outside 
of the line of frost. 

It is asked why South Florida to-day speaks only through 
me of capabilities, which she has failed hitherto to make 
visibly patent to the world ? The answer is at hand and will 
convince the most skeptical. War, cruel war, not such war 
as is said to be " the game of Kings^ whose pawns are men^ 
and stakes are empires ;" but war ! war with savages ! the 
midnight torch, the tomahawk and scalping knife. For 
many long years was the settlement of the" county outside 
of our island the scene of savage warfare with the Seminole 
Indians in our Territory, aided by bands of other tribes from 
abroad. Tlie smouldering and blackened ruins of farm- 
houses, the mutilated bodies of women and children, testify- 
to the causes which have impeded settlement and agricul- 
tural advancement. 

Since 1857, we have been happily rid of these treacher- 
ous foes, but our land yet feels the scourge of another, 
and a fratricidal war a^t that. Let us hope that the day is 
not far distant when the spear shall in reality be turned into 
the pruning hook, when the extensive factories which sur- 
round us and meet our gaze on our several streets in this city, 
shall be furnished with the Tobacco necessary for the manu- 
facture of the countless millions of segars which they will 
put out, grown upon the soil of our own county.'^ Within 

' See Appendix, Notes N, 0, P and Q. 

* Since writing the foregoing I have learned from Mr. E. 0. Gwynn, an 
acknowledged judge of the quality of tobacco, that a few years since he pur- 
chased and caused to be made into segars, about 500 pounds of leaf tobacco 
raised at the Miami, in the adjacent county of Dade, of very superior quality. 



56 

a very recent period forty or more families have settled in 
the upper portion of the county, where Indigo, Coffee and 
Sisal Hemp may doubtless be cultivated to advantage, with 
all the other fruits and products named, and add largely to 
our exports. 

The manufacture of salt upon the island has been already 
adverted to, but Key West is not the only place in the county 
where, by solar evaporation, the manufacture of salt can be 
made both productive and remunerative. 

Within a distance of ten miles from the place where I 
now stand, on the island of " Boca Chica," nature has 
spread out inviting fields for the profitable investment of 
capital, and the labor of enterprising and industrious men 
who may engage in the manufacture of this indispensable 
article of commerce. " Boca Chica," has also a great advan- 
tage over many other places where salt can be made, in hav- 
ing a secure harbor, safe anchorage, and sutiicient depth of 
water to allow the lading of a vessel with a draft of ten feet, 
from a wharf or pier of less than twenty feet from its shore. 

" Duck Key" and " Knights Key" also possess natural ad- 
vantages for the pursuit of the same business. 

With a climate where the least clothing is most comfort- 
able, and only just so much needed as modesty demands, with 
nothing of winter but the name, with waters abounding in 
fish and turtle, whose enjoyment is not burdened with tax or 
monopoly, with timber sufficient for building purposes, and 
an inexhaustible quantity for fuel, and with game in abun- 
dance, your county may well be called the " poor man's par- 
adise." Temperance, frugality and industry are all tliat is 
needed to secure competence, if not wealth, and with flour- 
ishing institutions of learning already established on this 
island, we can well afford to establish others wherever and 
whenever needed. 

It is gratifying to know that your county is out of debt, 
and with a surplus on hand over and above the incoming 
taxes of the present year ; so that, there being no immediate 



57 

demand for funds, your County Commissioners have gener- 
ously loaned $1,500 to the Board of Public Instruction. All 
must admit the motive to be good, whatever views some may 
entertain of the sufficiency of the security. 

In this connection, a matter of moment to all of you, seems 
to demand a passing notice, inasmuch as it is believed to be 
but little known and less understood by the community gen- 
erally, and some of the ofiicers of government especially, than 
it should be, and which affects the interests of the people in- 
habiting that portion of the island particularly subject to the 
jurisdiction of the " City of Key West," under and by reason 
of its corporate powers. I allude to the proprietary and 
possessory title in and to " Jackson square." There are those 
of you who are under the impression that, because of the fact 
that there is no instrument of writing, in the shape of a con- 
veyance from the original proprietors of the island to the 
city authorities, granting the "fee," as the lawyers term it, 
coupled with the fact that the County Court House and Jail 
have been erected upon it, that the title to the Square is 
not wholly in "the City." Let me assure you that your 
condition as owners of this Square, is much better than 
it would have been if the original proprietors had given an 
absolute deed of it in " fee " to the city, for in that case 
it might have been sold from under your feet, and the 
money expended for a banquet to entertain the King of 
the Cannibal Islands, or some other illustrious dignitary from 
abroad. 

The proprietors of the island, foreseeing that Key West 
must become the county seat of Monroe county, and the most 
fitting place for the exercise of the judicial powers of the 
United States in admiralty and maritime affairs, wisely made 
room in your city for the accommodation necessary to these 
purposes, and in the plan of the city, "Jackson Square" is 
delineated, and in the division of the island between the orig- 
inal agrarian proprietors, it was treated as "common" or "pub- 
lic," and the plan of the city with this delineation, being 



58 

made the incorporated area ot your city by charter, gave to 
you in your corporate capacity all the proprietary rights 
vested in the original proprietors, save that of alienation, 
and vested in you, and you only, the right of possession. 

You hold this Square and also *' Clinton-place" by the same 
terms by which you hold the streets running through 3'our 
city, not by express grant, but by an " implied use," or " usu- 
fruct." You can only lose your right when you suffer them 
to be used for other than public purposes, consistent with the 
nature of the usufruct. 

By examining the original map of the city you will notice 
a figure or block marked " Jail," standing at a short distance 
from the line of Thomas street, and about midway between 
Fleeming and Soutliard streets. A jail constructed of the 
limestone of the island once stood on the spot indicated on the 
map. This jail was authorized to be built by means of the 
auction taxes levied on sales in this city, and Com- 
missioners (Messrs. W. A. Whitehead and L. M. Stone) were 
appointed by the Legislative Council of the Territory to 
superintend its construction. These Coraissioners pur- 
chased a lot or piece of land on which to erect the jail in 
another part of the city in 1831. Whether restrained by a 
conscientious regard for the rights and comfort of those set- 
tled, or to settle in the neighborhood of their purchase, or 
from what other motive does not appear, the fact remains 
that they erected this jail on Jackson Square ; this thdy 
could not have done lawfully without permission of the 
" Town Council." ' This old jail was completed and placed 
in charge of the Sheriff in May, 1835, and was torn down a 

' On submitting this portion of the address to Mr. Whitehead, the following 
has been received from him: " I do not now recall tlie reasons why, after 
actually purchasing a lot elsewhere for the jail, the project should have 
been abandoned and the building erected in Jackson Square. I do not think that 
any considerations of " the rights and comforts of those who might settle in 
the neighborhood" — which you very kindly suggest may have influenced the 
Commissioners — were entertained, but am disposed to attribute their action 
to a wish to consult the convenience of the officers of the Court by having the 



59 

few years ago. This fact, together with the length of time it 
was allowed to stand without question, removes the necessity 
of ascertaining by what authority it was erected, whether 
tacit or expressed. The lot referred to, as having been puj'- 
chased by the Commissioners, is lot No. 2, in square 64, and 
and was sold by other Commissioners (Messrs. O'Hara, Wall 
and Sawyer) under authority of an act of the Legislature, 
approved 29tli December, 1845, was purchased by Mr. F. 
J. Moreno, and is now occupied by Mr. Wm. Martinelly and 
others. 

The old Court House, or Count}' Court House (so called to 
distinguish it from the United States Court-rooms) — the local- 
two hiiildings — the Court House and the Jail — near each other, and to save 
some money for the then Territory. 

•'On laying out the town it was first tliought desirable that the Public Square 
should be located nearer the water, and the block between Fitzpatrick street 
and Clinton place was thought of. Another project was to locate it at the 
" middle Spring," as it was then called in square 61, but the fact that there 
was already a building on what is now Jackson Square, erected, if I 
mistake not, for the use of the county authorities before the survey was made 
or the town cliartered, led to the selection of that square for the purpose. As 
you say in your address, there is no document emanatmg from the proprietors 
conveying the fee of the streets and squares, nor do I recollect that anything 
was said or thought of, at the time, relating to the control of Jackson Square. 
That, as well as the streets, was' informally dedicated to public uses, and that 
there should ever arise any difference of opinion, in regard to its control, be- 
tween the authorities of the county and the authorities of the town was never 
thought of. The former were virtually in possession, and I do not believe that 
any application was made to the town authorities for permission to erect the 
jail. I am not quahfied to discuss the legal points that may be involved, but 
knowing as I do the views and wishes of all the original proprietors, I do not 
hesitate to affirm that it was their intention the square should be used for any 
legitimate purpose, either of town or county; and representing as I do, one- 
fourth of the original proprietary interest, I would be pleased to join those 
representing the other interests, in signing any document that might legally and 
ofifectually determine the rightful control. As such a course is probably impracti- 
cable, I would take the liberty to suggest the appointment of a Commission, com- 
posed of«^n equal number of representatives of tlie city and county authorities, 
(with the Judge of the United States District Court as umpire, in case of any 
disagreement) charged with all needful control of the premises. I think the 
circumstances fully warrant some such concession on both sides." 



60 

ity of which is also shown on the map, as being on Jackson 
square, fronting on Whitehead street, was erected prior to 
1828, and was altered and improved at the expense of the 
United States, in 1830, while we were in our infancy as a 
Town, and part of the Territory of Florida. The Jud2:es of 
the United States Court, used it during the Territorial exis- 
tence, and is now used to hold the State Court in. The 
County Records are kept in the second stor}' of this building, 
in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit (State) Court, who is 
the recording officer of the County ex officio. 

Near the corner of Fleeraing street on the same square, is 
tlie present county jail. This jail was authorized to be built 
by an act of the legislature of the State, in December, 1845, 
also from the revenues derived from auction sales. It is per- 
haps one of tlie best in the state, built of the lime rock of 
the island, and it is gratifying to add that few prisoners at 
any time are occupants. 

While as citizens of the United States, we take befitting 
pride in celebrating this glorious day, and as citizens of Key 
West, in our own New City Hall, an ornament to our city, 
and a proud triumph over nature — erected on a spot within 
the memory of some of us present, which presented to the 
eye, a- disgusting pond of stagnant water only a few years 
ago — let us not be content with the achievements of the past, 
but as co-workers as well as spectators of the future, use all 
the means we can to invite the settlement of' an industrious 
population, into our county ; cordially receiving those who 
may come among us with honest purposes, giving our influ- 
ence to deserving enterprises, build up about and around us 
institutions of learning, foster commerce, agriculture and the 
mechanical arts, and make of South Florida in the near future, 
what we could wish she were to-day. 

CONCLUSION. 
To the Ladies particularly I would now address myself. 



61 

Hitherto I have forborne to notice any of your sex, to whom the 
present residents are indebted for having, by their example 
in the past, sown the seeds of those virtues from which they 
are now reaping the fruits. 

Let me therefore be permitted (with feelings akin to filial 
regard and devotion) to place upon the canvas which is 
intended to represent your city, one portrait, one name, 
without which the picture would be more incomplete than it 
is — that of Mrs. Ellen Mallory, one of the earliest female 
settlers upon our island, one whose residence antedates the 
existence of our chartered rights as citizens of Key West. 

Methinks I hear her musical voice to-day, as she was wont 
to speak, standing at the bedside of the sick and dying in 
days gone by. Catholic b}^ rites of baptism, oh ! how truly 
Catholic, in the better and non-sectarian use of that term, 
was her life, devoted as it was to acts of kindness. Her hus- 
band having died shortly after their arrival, she kept for many 
years the only comfortable boarding house on the island, 
located first on the north side of Fitzpatrick street, and subse- 
quently, after the Proprietors had expressed their apprecia- 
tion of her character and usefulness, by a donation of a lot of 
ground, on her own premises, on the south side of Duval 
street near Front. 

With many opportunities of becoming rich, she died com- 
paratively poor. Next to her God, her devotion centered in 
her son Stephen R. Mallory, whom she brought to this 
island a child of tender age, and lived to see, occupying a 
seat in the Senate of the United States as one of the Senators 
from Florida. 

Twice as I remember, I had the pleasure of receiving the 
proffered hand of this lady. First, with words of "welcome" 
to your city, when as a poor young man I became one of 
your number. Second, on the occasion of a sore affliction, 
when the balm of consolation gratefully reached my ears, 
and pointed my mind to contemplations of future usefulness. 



62 

She died in 1855. Her mortal remains lie in 3'onder cem- 
etery respected of all men. She left no enemy on earth. 

Requiescat in pace. 

It is with great repugnance, and only after repeated solic- 
itations, that I have consented to add to the foregoing address 
some references to a few of the incidents which transpired in 
your city, during the period embraced within the years 1861 
and 1865. My unwilling consent has only been obtained upon 
i\\ii j^l^O' of justice to the memory of those now dead, whose 
confidence I enjoyed and whose sympathies I shared. 

The disruption of social, conjugal, fraternal, political, and 
even of religious ties, wrought by real or fancied grievances, 
growing out of the mad passions of the hour during that per- 
iod, serves as a beacon to warn against the danger of re-open- 
ing wounds not yet fully healed. Beside, my close coimexion 
with many of the stirring and most prominent public events 
of that time, would seem to make me unfitted to become the 
historian of events so lately enacted. But while yielding to 
the desires of my friends, I must persist in confining myself 
to such subjects as have already been incorporated into his- 
tory by others, and made matters of record elsewhere. 

It will be remembered that the year 1860 opened upon our 
country at large under circumstances corresponding to those 
which had marked each preceding fourth year, in which a 
President of the United States had been chosen. From Maine 
to Florida, from the Pacific to the Rio Grande, men arranged 
themselves into parties, while many sought new alliances and 
adopted the shibboleth of their respective organizations. We 
of this city straining our sense of hearing for the cry of 
"' Wreck ashore," still found time, with our lilliputian voices, 
to imitate our more corpulent neighbors in shouting our cries 
of anticipated victory for a Breckenridge or a Bell. 

Shocked to a great degree, by wliatsome considered at least 
bad faith, in many of the leading men of tiie nation, who 
openly sympathized with the John Brown incursion into Vir- 
ginia, at Harper's Ferry, and almost driven to despair of the 



63 

Eepublic, by the unsatisfactory condition in which the nation 
was left at the adjournment, of a boisterous Congress, and 
the weakness of the then Federal administration ; our citi- 
zens, though deeply moved, awaited events with ill-concealed 
anxiety. The success of the Free Soil or Republican party 
at the election in the Fall of that year, coupled with the ac- 
tion of the State of South Carolina, — to which was soon after 
added a Proclamation by the Governor of Florida for a Con- 
vention of the people, to take into consideration the then 
present and future relations of Florida toward the Federal 
Government, — brought boldly and abruptly to view the ques- 
tion of Union or Disunion, by some at that time derisively 
and tauntingly expressed as Secession or Submission. 

In pursuance of a previous notice for that purpose, the cit- 
izens of the island in larger number than had ever before 
met to discuss any question, theological or political, assem- 
bled at the County Court House on the evening of the 12th 
of December, 1860. 

What transpired at that meeting was published in the city 
newspaper of that time, the Key of the ^'?^^, edited and pub- 
lished by Wm. H. Ward, and reads as follows : 

" Pursuant to previous notice, a mass meeting of our citi- 
zens was convened at the Court House on the evening yf the 
12th inst., for the purpose of nominating Delegates to the 
State Convention, to assemble in Tallahassee on the 3d day 
of January, 1861, for the purpose of taking into considera- 
tion the dangers incident to the position of this State in the 
Federal Union, etc. It was the largest meeting ever held in 
this cit}'. 

" Hon. J. P. Baldwin was called to the Chair, and Charles 
Tift and Peter Crusoe, Esqrs., were appointed Secretaries. 
The Chairman having explained the object of the meeting, 
speeches were made by the following gentlemen : 

" Hon. Wm. Marvin, U. S. Judge for this District, was for 
the Union ; wait for the border States and secede with them. 
He announced himself as a candidate for the Convention. 

" Wm. H. Ward; Esq., in favor of Secession and a Southern 
Confederacy. 

" S. J. Donglas, Esq., for a Southern Convention, and fail- 
ing to get what it should demand, to go out with them. 



64 

" W. C. Maloney, Esq., said he was for " the Union -first, 
the Union last, and the Union always.'''' 

" W. C. Dennis, Esq., favored waiting for the action of the 
border States, and announced himself as a candidate for the 
Convention. 

" "Wm. Pinkney, Esq., wished to wait for the border States. 

" Asa F. Tift, Esq., would go with the Southern States. 

" J. L. Tatum, Esq., for secession. 

"At midnight the meeting adjourned to the evening of the 
13th, when it again met. After a few speeches were made, 
the Hon. Wm. Marvin, Winer Bethel, and Wm. Pinkney, 
Esqs., were placed in nomination and the vote taken by hold- 
ing up of hands, with the following result : 

Marvin, 33 yeas, 26 nays. 
Bethel, m '' V " 

Pinkney, 62 " 2 " 

"Very many citizens refused to vote at all, or to be bound 
to the nominations. '* The meeting then adjourned." 

Mr. Marvin's official position as Judge of the U. S. Dis 
trict Court, being urged as incompatible with his duties as a 
Delegate, Asa F. Tift was subsequently nominated in his 
place. The opinions of the Delegates were better known to 
themselves than to their constituents, and the result of the la- 
bors of the Convention thus attended, you are as well in- 
formed as myself. 

While the Convention was deliberating, Capt. John M. 
Brannan, in command of a company of LT. S. Artillery, of 
less than 30 men, stationed at this post, following the exam- 
ple of Major Anderson, of Fort Sumter celebrity, evacuated 
the barracks in the northeastern section of the city, and 
moved his men and garrison equipage into Fort Taylor. This 
was done by the advice of Judge Marvin and Charles Howe, 
Collector of the Customs. It was commenced on a Saturday 
night and consummated on the following morning, without 
noise or parade. No suspicions were excited, as Capt. 
Brannan, as well as the other gentlemen named, and the 
rest of the leading citizens, attended the religious services 
of Sunday as usual ; and although this action was con- 
sidered by many truly loyal citizens as uncalled for 
under the circumstances, it undoubtedly tended to strengthen 



85 

the authority of the United States on the island. It was, 
however, seized upon by those who looked forward to self 
preferment under a new government, more anxiously than to 
peace, honor and prosperity of the whole under the old one, 
to inflame the minds of the masses, and not without effect. 
No excesses, however, were displayed, the U. S. District 
Court kept along the even tenor of its way, the Collector of 
Customs entered and cleared vessels as usual, without molest- 
ation, and the Post Office was peaceably resorted to for the 
receipt and despatch of letters as before. 

Things continued in this unsettled condition even after the 
announcement of the secession of South Carolina and Florida. 
Those whose attachment to the Union was at no time very 
strong, were daily giving in adhesion to the views of those 
with stronger or perverted minds, who looked forward with 
complacency to the disunion of the States, peaceably if pos- 
sibly, forcibly if necessary. 

The necessity which seemed to compel the Chief Magistrate 
elect, of the Republic, to reach the capitol in disguise, added 
force to the arguments of those, who now openly advocated 
secession as a necessary consequence, growing out of the bold- 
ness* of the rebellious and the timidity of those who were 
almost despondent. 

It was in vain that the horrors of a civil war were recounted, 
as the history of England has revealed them. The pre- 
tended disbelief of some that an actual conflict of arms 
would occur, — doubtless suggested by the humane expression 
of that sterling patriot and soldier, Winfield Scott, " Let our 
erring brothers go in peace," — with the taunting and insult- 
ing remarks on the floor of Congress, reflecting upon the 
character and determination of the Southern people, served 
only to made capital for the vaporing few, who, too often, 
are permitted to lead the many unwisely and to their injury. 
About the latter part of the month of March, 1861, several 
of the vessels of our citizens had openly displayed flags said 
to represent that of the Southern Confederacy, while sailing 



under papers issued by authority ol' the Government of the 
United States. 

Happily for the permanent peace of the island, at about 
this time, April 6th, Major Wm. H. French, of 5th U. S. 
Artillery, reached here with his command. He had 
been stationed at Fort Duncan, Texas, and, in order to avoid 
surrender under the terms submitted by Gen. Twiggs, march- 
ed his four companies down tlie Rio Grande to Point Isabel 
and there embarked. 

This opportune arrival of Major French gave reinvigorated 
hopes to those who had so often, with moistened eye and 
slowly beating hearts, looked for many anxious days upon 
the flag of the Union, not knowing but that it would disap- 
pear from their view forever. 

Those citizens holding oflicial stations under the govern- 
ment, as was to be expected of them, sought the acquaint- 
ance of Major French, and having discovered that he came 
as a friend, true to the flag he served and the honor of his 
sword, lost no time in bringing the joyful news to the ears of 
those who had long waited for the assurance, that they might 
indulge in the expectation of a reunited family of States. 

More by the way of giving moral aid and comfort, than from 
any expectations of adding to the efficiency of the troops 
under Major French, then only two incomplete companies, ad- 
ded to the force of Capt. Branaan— two companies having been 
stationed at Fort Jeiferson, Tortugas, — a movement was set 
on foot by Thos. J. Boynton, then United States Attorney ,and 
others, for the purpose disclosed by the following document : 

'' We, the undersigned Citizens of Key West, believing that 
the distracted condition of the Country demands that our 
services should be offered to her in this her hour of need, 
that we may assist in preserving the honor of our Flag, up- 
holding the laws, and quelling rebellion, do hereby agree to 
form a Volunteer Company, and hold oui'selves suhject to the 
Commander ot the United States Forces at Key West." 

May 16th, 1861. 



67 



A. Patterson, 
Eldridge L. Ware, 
George D. Alleu, 
James P. Liglitbourne, 
Henry Albury, 
George Demerett, 
Christian Boye, 
R. W. Welch, 
E. 0. Gvvynn, 
S. M. Davis, 
W. C. Maloney, 
Wilham Solomon, 
Nathan Niles, 
Josepli Almeda, 
E. D. Braman, 
Frederick lilugei't, 
Hiram B. Dailey, 
Jos'eph B. Kemp, 
Wilham Re3^nolds, 
Daniel Davis, 
John Gordon. 
Calvin Park, 
John Gardner, 
Joseph Kemp, 
Charles Howe, Jr., 
Edward C. Howe, 
James Wetlierford, Jr., 
Edward F. Papy, 
James Egan, 
G. W. Ferguson. 
Wm. Demeritt, 
Henry Williams, 
Cliarles Cox, 
Arthur McAllister, 
George Wood, 
Robert Sawyer, 
Joseph Andrews, 



Richardson Albury, 
Josephus F. Packer, 
William Saunders, Sen., 
Wilham Ricliardson, 
Jeremiah Pent, 
Alexander Saunders, 
Benj. Bethel, 
John Braman, Sen., 
Benjamin Albury, 
John White, 
Martin Raymond, 
Henry Williams, Jr., 
Albert A. Johnson, 
Henrj' Williams, Sen., 
Edward Bickford, 
Joseph Williams, 
G. Wm. Gibbons, 
Patrick Casey, 
Thos. Lumley, 
John Albury, 
John 0. Braman, Jr., 
Thomas W. Kemp, 
Lewis E. Pierce, Jr., 
Lewis E. Pierce, Sen., 
George R. Pearce, 
James Pent, 
William Sands, 
William McDonald. 
Wm. H. von Pfister. 
John Pent, Sen., 
James Roberts, 
Richard Albury, Sen., 
D. Moffat, 
James Simpson, 
Joseph Stickney, 
Joseph Garcia, 



Shubael Brown, 
0. A. Hickey, 
Elijah Carej^ 
Beuj. G. Albury, 
David W. Marshall, 
William Saunders, Jr., 
Charles Howe, Sen., 
Latham Brightman, 
T. J. Boynton, 
G. F. Ferguson, 
Cornelius Curtis, 
Wm. Marvin, 
Robert B. Bmgham, 
Thomas Albury, 
Christopher Dunn, 
James Pent, Jr., 
Clemente MeChow, 
Alonzo A. Austin, 
Hezekiah Thrift, 
Alex. Marshall, 
Dennis W. Kelly, 
Manual Gonzales, 
Augustus P. Marillac, 
Wilham H. Albury, 
Peter T. Williams, 
John Butler, 
Daniel O'Hara, 
Henry Demeritt, 
William H. Pearce, 
John Beck, 
Peter L. Jaycocks, 
Wm. Marshall, 
Francis B. Dailey, 
Wm. A. Pitcher, 
Benjamin Albury. 



M. Farina, 

The individuals thus organized, on the da}' named, liaving 
assembled in the large room in the buildino; adjacent to the 
St. James Hotel, proceeded to Fort Taylor, and to myself 
was assigned the pleasing and honorable post of orator for 
the occasion. The contents of the paper having been read 
in presence of Major French, and mutual assurances of fidel- 
ity interchanged, after a kind and hospitable entertainment, 
the company returned to the city and to their several 



company 
avocations. 

According to promise the company spoken of were furnished 
arms by Major French, and having chosen their officers, 
the late Daniel Davis becomi^ their captain, familiarized 
themselves with their use, until Col. Joseph Morgan, of the 
90th Regiment, N. Y.V^olunteers, military commander of the 
island, disarmed them in 1863, and thereupon they disbanded. 



68 

Early in February, 1863, great excitement was created by 
an order from the commander of the post banishing all per- 
sons, both male and female, who had near relatives in any of 
the rebellious States. By this order it was estimated that 
about six hundred of the citizens, including a number who 
were recognized as staunch Union men, were directed to hold 
themselves in readiness to embark for Hilton-head, thence to 
be transferred to some Confederate post. " The town, wrote 
a loyal citizen at the time, " has been in the utmost state of 
excitement. Men sacrificing their propert}', selling off their 
all, getting ready to be shipped off ; women and children cr^'- 
ing at the thought of being sent among the rebels. It was 
impossible for an}' good citizen to remain quiet and uncon- 
cerned at such a time." Expostulations from the United 
States officers, and from the Naval officers on the station, 
were fruitless. Col. Morgan, misconstruing his instructions, 
was inflexible, one, if not more, of the gentlemen remon- 
strating being threatened with arrest for interfering. 

On the 27th February a transport was to leave with some 
of those who were to be forever banished from their homes. 
Their baggage was already on the wharf when deliverance 
came. Information having been communicated to General 
Hunter at Hilton-head of the state of affairs at Ke}- West, 
he immediately despatched Col. J. H. Good with the 47th 
Pennsylvania Regiment, to relieve Col. Morgan and his com- 
mand ; and Col. Good, arriving at the critical moment refer- 
red to above, at once directed the return of the banished to 
their houses with their goods, and revoked the order of his 
predecessor. It need scarcely be said that rejoicing every 
where took the place of the grief that had been so manifest. 

As to the thousand and one other incidents connected with 
this period, some recalling scenes of pleasurable emotion, 
others of disgust and alarm, they are written in a Book of 
Chronicles to be opened for pernsal when the hand which has 
recorded them shall have fallen lifeless by the side of an in- 
animate body. 



APPENDIX 



The necessary limitation as to the time to be devoted to the delivery of the 
foregoing address, precluded the introduction of much incidental matter that 
would have further illustrated tlie liistory of the island. Some of this it has 
been thought advisable to introduce here, under the behef that it will prove 
interesting to many who may wish to be made better acquainted with the 
men and measures that laid the foundations of our city's welfare ; and other 
matter, since obtained, has been added also. 



NOTE A. PAGE 6. 
JOHN WATSON SIMONTON. 
15[r. Simonton was a native of New Jersey, but his business connections 
were with several Southern cities and with Cuba. After the settlement of 
Key West, his winters for several years were generall}' spent here, his north- 
ern residence being Washington, D. 0. He had an extensive acquaintance 
among the members of Congress, and was on intimate terms with several prom- 
inent men of the then administration, his influence always being exerted for 
the best interests of the island. After the location here of the United States 
troops in 1831, he was for some time sutler of the post, and was subsequently 
interested in the manufacture of Salt as the representative of a company 
whose stock was principally held in Mobile and New Orleans. He afterward 
engaged in business in the latter city and died in Washington in May, 1854. His 
social qualities, amiability of temper, energetic business habits, and various 
places of residence, caused him to have an extensive circle of friends and ac- 
quaintances. 



NOTE B, PAGE 6. 
JOHN WHITEHEAD. 

Mr. John Whitehead was the son of William Whitehead, Cashier of the 
Newark Banking and Insurance Company, the first bank chartered in New 
Jersey, and his early years were spent as a clerk in that institution. He sub- 
sequently entered a mercantile establishment in New York, and was among the 
first to organize a partnership and emigrate to Mobile. His first acquaintance 
with the island was in 1818. Having been shipwrecked on the Bahama banks, 
on his way to Mobile from New York, the vessel in which his voyage was con- 



70 

tinued put into Key West harbor, giving him an opportunity to observe its pe- 
cuHar adaptation for the purposes to which it was soon after applied. He was 
consequently prepared to enter with alacrity into the arrangements of his 
friend, Mr. Simonton, for its settlement, so soon as they were made known to 
him. His business relations at the island were, at first, on his own individual 
account, but from September, 1824, to April, 1827, he was one of the firm of 
P. C. Greene & Co. Although that partnership was dissolved, he continued, 
with some intermissions, to regard the island as his residence until about the 
year 1832, when he established himself at New Orleans in the insurance busi- 
ness ; and thence, a few years thereafter, removed to New York, where he 
died August 29th. 1864. while holding the Vice Presidency of one of the lead- 
ing insurance companies of that city. He visited the island for a short time 
during the winter of 1863, when on a voyage for his health, accompanied by a 
nephew, (a son of his brother, William A.) whose early childhood had been 
spent on the island. This visit enabled him to renew his acquaintance with 
several with whom he had been associated when a resident. Mr. Whitehead 
was a very accomplished merchant. He left no children . 

JOHN WILLIAM CHARLES FLEEMIKG. 

Mr. Fleemixo. like Mr. Whitehead, was a personal friend of Mr. Simonfon, 
and engaged in mercantile business at Mobile when the purchase and settle- 
ment of Key West were first thought of. He accompanied the first party to 
the island in 1822, but left before the end of the year for New Bedford, Mass.. 
where he married. Taking a warm interest in the projected salt works, he 
came to Key West in the autumn of 1832, expecting, ultimately, to make ar- 
rangements for commencing the manufacture on his own portions of the Salt 
Pond, but died on the 19th of December of that year, and his remains were 
deposited where St. Paul's Church now stands. Mr. Fleeming was a gentle- 
men of culture and of refined tastes, and Mr. W. A. Whitehead, then Collector 
of the Customs, with whom he resided, in a letter written at the time, thus 
expressed his own and the public's estimation of their loss: 

" On depositing in their last resting place the remains of him who for a short 
month had added so much to my pleasure and comfort, I bade adieu to many 
fond anticipations of enjoyment which I had expected to realize, not only dur- 
ing the present winter, but for many years to come. There was luirdly a- sub- 
ject in literature, the arts or the' sciences, on which he could not converse and 
give information, and yet unpretending in his manners, mild and amiable to an 
extent seldom met with in men of his age and standing. 

'• Everything I do reminds me of him, for his habits and pursuits were so 
similar to my own, notwithstanding the diflerence in our ages, that he seemed 
to be connected with me in all my desultory pursuits. Many delightful plans 
for amusement and instruction during tlie winter in which we were to be 
partners — our drawing — our music — in fact every employment that could tend 
to wile away agreeably the hours not required for our daily duties — has by 



71 

this blow been so entirely demolished that it will be long ere my feelings will 
resume their wonted elasticity. My private loss is great, but never has Key 
West experienced before a calamity to be compared with his death. Many 
years will pass away, before our island will have on it a man so able to bring to 
light the capabihties of the natural salt ponds, to which we look for the ulti- 
mate prosperity of the place, as he had for many years made tlie manufacture 
of salt his study ; and probably there is not a man in the United States who 
understood it as thoroughly as he did." 

Mr. Meeming left one daughter. His widow became the wife of Mr. George 
B. Emerson^ of Massachusetts. 



NOTE C, PAGE 7. 
PAKDON C. GREENE. 

Mr. Grkene had been for several years master of a vessel in the merchant 
service, tradmg between Northern and Southern ports and Cuba. As stated 
in the text, he personall)'^ took up his permanent abode on the island soon after 
its first settlement, but the residence of his family continued to be in Rhode 
Island. He died in the autumn of 1838, having for several years been in ill 
health from inflammatory rheumatism. "Greene's Wharf" and "Ware- 
houses " were for many years the only ones of any prominence. His only 
child, William C. Greene, died at Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, in October, 1860. 



NOTE D, PAGE 9. 

The public documents printed by Congress, and the records of the Navy 
Department, contain a large amount of interesting information respecting the 
views of the Government and the events of this period. Some few extracts 
are here given : 

REPORT OF SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO THE PRESIDENT. 

Navy Department, December 29, 1822. 
" Sir — The Secretary of the Navy, to whom has been referred the resolution 
of the House of Representatives of the 20th inst., requesting the President of 
the United States to inform the House " what appropriation will be required to 
enable him to fortify Thompson's Island, usually called Key West, and whether 
a naval depot, established at that Island, protected by fortifications, will not 
afford facilities in defending the commerce of the United States, and in clearing 
the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent seas from pirates," has the honor to re- 
port : That the geographical situation of the island referred to in the resolu- 
tion, has for some time past attracted attention, and been considered peculiarly 
important, both as a military position and in reference to the commerce of the 
United States. 



72 

" The commander of one of our public vessels, cruising in that quarter, was 
accordingl}'^ directed last winter to touch at this island and take possession ot 
it as a part of the territory ceded by Spain to the United States, and to make 
such general examination as might be useful in forming an opinion of the ad- 
vantages of the place, and the propriety of a further and more particular sur- 
vey. From the report of Lieutenant Commandant Perry, who was charged 
witii this duty, it has been satisfactorily ascertained that this position aflFords 
a safe, convenient and extensive harbor for vessels of war and merchant ves- 
sels. His instructions, however, did not reqiure him to make so minute a sur- 
vey as was necessary, in order to judge of the extent to which this place might 
be safely and advantageously occupied and improved as a naval dep6t. 

" Captain Patterson has since been instructed to make a further examination 
and survey, and is now engaged in that business ; his report may be expected 
before the adjournment of Congress. There can be no doubt, however, of the 
importance of this island and its contiguous waters, in various points of view. 
The harbor affords a safe and convenient rendezvous for our public vessels 
cruising in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, and the island a very 
suitable depot for provisions and supplies. From the peculiar dangers of the 
navigation along the coast and among the Florida Keys, our merchant vessels 
are frequently driven by distress to seek a harbor ; and, for want of one in our 
own waters, are under the necessity of making a port in the island of Cuba, 
which subjects them to considerable additional expense. This island also 
aflFords a very eligible dep6t for wrecked property, and which is highly neces- 
sary and advantageous when the navigation is attended with so many dangers 
and difficulties. "We are at this time in a great measure dependent on the 
wreckers of New Providence, for the protection of our property in case 
of shipwreck. This not only gives employment to a great number of foreign 
vessels and seamen, but it subjects our merchants to heavy expenses. These 
are some of the obvious benefits of this position in time of peace ; but its ad- 
vantages in time of war with any European power having West India posses- 
sions are still more important, both as it respects the protection of our own 
commerce and the annoyance of our enemy. An enemy with a superior naval 
force occupying this position, could completely intercept the whole trade be- 
tween those parts of our country lying north and east of it and those to the 
west, and seal up all our ports witliin the Gulf of Mexico. It may therefore 
be safely answered, to one branch of the inquiry made by the resolution, that 
if tliis island is susceptible of defence, a naval depot established there would 
afford a great facility in protecting our commerce, and aid in the suppression 
of piracy. But this Department has not the means at present of forming any 
estimate of the appropriation necessary for protecting and defending this po- 
sition by permanent fortifications, or of determining whether it is even prac- 
ticable. It is belieived, however, that it is susceptible of such defence, at an 
expense that would be justified by the importance of the place; but to form 
any tolerably satisfactory estimate of the amount, an accurate survey and cal- 
c lation, by competent engineers, is indispensably necessary. 



73 

" This island is considered so advantageous and convenient a place of ren- 
dezvous for our public vessels on the West India station, that it is intended to 
make it a depot for provisions and supplies for the expedition against 
the pirates, lately authorized by Congress, to be secured iu temporary build- 
ings, under the protection of a guard of marines. 

•' All which is respectfully subraiLted."- 

" Smith Thompson." 

" The President of the United States." 

Commodore Porter's communications to the Department abound in expres- 
sions which show his high appreciation of the advantages likely to result 
from the occupation of the island by the United States as a naval station. Un- 
der date of May 11th, 1823, when asking for an increased number of vessels and 
men, he said: 

" From the importance of the trade of Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico, the 
whole of which is protected from this place, with a force not equal to one 
frigate, I presume my requests will not be considered extravagant. The arri- 
vals and departures of American vessels from the port of Havana alone, aver- 
age about thirty per week, and those from Matauzas about twenty. Xot a day 
elapses but that great numbers of American vessels are to be met passing 
through the Gulf, and since an establishment here, they daily in numbers pass 
in sight of us. I mention these facts to give you an idea of the importance of 
this station and to show the propriety of augmenting jfhe force by the addi- 
tions which I have asked." 

Under date of November 19th, 1823, he said : " The fixing an establishment 
at Thompson's Island for rendezvous and supplies has had a most happy effect 
in attaining the object had in view. Its vicinity to Havana, placed, as it were, 
in the thoroughfare of vessels sailing through the Gulf, making it, in many 
points of view, an object of great importance to the United States." 

Commodore Rodgers thus mentions the island under date of November 24th : 
"Nature has made it the advance post from which to watch and guard our 
commerce passing to and from the Mississippi, while, at the same time, its pe- 
culiar situation, and the excellence of its harbor, point it out as the most cer- 
tain key to the commerce of the Havana, to that of the whole Gulf of Mex- 
ico, and to the returning trade of Jamaica ; and I venture to predict, that the 
first important naval contest in which this country shall be engaged, will be iu 
the neighborhood of this very island." 

On the 16lh of April, 1823, as if anticipating the trials that were soon 
thereafter experienced. Commodore Porter wrote: " In the present state of 
the establishment, it will be in vain to look for the comforts, which the fatigue 
of the kind of life we now lead make more necessary to us than they would be 
at other times, without the convenience which a ship affords, ' Sickness pre- 
vailed this summer to a great extent, and we find the reports of the officers to 
the Department and from the Department to the President replete with explan- 

10 



74 

ations as to the causes, and apprclieasions as to the effects upon tlie pcrraa- 
nenej- of the edtablishment. " Had the nocessaiy number of medical men been 
furnished tliis }'ear," wrote Commodore Porter, " the squadron would have been 
no Goubt in a great measure saved from the deplorable consequences which 
liave resulted, as the disease, in its commencement, was completely under the 
control of medicine ; but I regret to say that several perished without receiv- 
ing any medical aid whatever, and without ever seeing a physician." 

From the depressing influence which this sickness had upon the growth of 
the settlement for some years, the followiug extracts are given from the report to 
Commodore Rodgers made by Surgeons Harris, Washington, Hoffman and 
■Williamson, dated " U. S. Schooner Shark, Thompson's Island, October 29lh, 
1823 "— 

"To these miasmatic causos of disease were added others of equal if not 
greater magnitude. They have ari.sen, 1st. From the sudden exposure of 
Northern constitutions to a tropic;il climate at a period when the ordinary re- 
laxing effects of a change from a cold to a warm season were aggravated by a 
difference of 14 or 15 degrees of Southern latitude. From this cause, they 
were, in the space of two or three weeks, operated upon by an increase of 
temperature of at least 50 degrees. 

" 2d. From the gi-eat fatigue and exposure by day and night of the officers 
and crews engaged in the boat service, and from the want of comfortable quar- 
ters for those wlio had encamped on the island. 

" 3d. From irregular and frequeiillj' intemperate habits. 
" 4th. From being too often deprived of fresh and wholesome provisions. 
" 5th. From the continued annoyance of mosquitoes and flies, which deprived 
the men of their accustomed rest. So insupportable, indeed, became these 
troublesome insects, that the men were frequently obliged to retire to the beacli, 
where they walked the greater part of the night. Others, wo liavo been in- 
formed by the officers of the station, would row off in boats some distance from 
the shore, and thus expose themselves either to the heavy dews or drenching 
rains peculiar to the climate. 

" Gill. From being operated upon by the depressing passions arising from ap- 
prehension awakened by the the prevailing epidemic, and by the obvious want 
of comforts by those who were affected with disease. 

" These fruitful sources of fevers will abuudantlj' account for their extent and 
fatality. Taking into consideration the great liability of persons from the higher 
latitudes to disease, when even slightly exposed to hardships in the tropics, it 
ought not to be a subject of surprise that the severely arduous service, in 
which our officers and crews have been engaged, has occasioned so many sacri- 
fices of valuable lives." — 

They state that with the exception of one case of yellow fever, bilious fever 
prevailed until 20th June, and the cases yielded readily to the agency of 
medicine, at which time it assumed in many instances a highly malignant 
form. — 



75 

" This disease now commenced on board the store ship Decoy, which was 
rendered uiihealthful by the impurity of her hold, a quantity of ballast was put 
on board from this island, containing shell-fish and sea-weed, which, by the 
heat of a tropical climate, was thrown into a state of putrefactive fermentation. 
Two of the cases, however, which occurred on board this vessel, were con- 
tracted by imprudent exposure to a noonday heat in the streets of Havana." 

The Secretary of the Navy, under date of September 21st, drew the attention 
of the President to the impropriety of abandonino; the island. " It ought not," 
said he, "readily be deserted. It is very desirable to save it," and Commodore 
Rodgers wrote a letter to the Secretary on the 16th November, containing these 
sensible passages : 

" U. S. Schooner Shark, Hampton Roads, Nov. 16, 1823. — From the little ex- 
perience I have had, my opinion is that the climate of Thompson's Island is 
similar to that of the "West India Islands generally ; that its air is perhaps less 
salubrious than some, but more so than others; and that notwithstanding the 
objections which may be urged against it, on account of particular defects aris- 
ing from its small elevation above the level of the sea, the unevenness of its 
surfixce, and the many salt and fresh water ponds which it is said to contain, 
still, that it is, from the excellence of its harbor and its peculiar station onlthe 
mop of this Western Hemisphere, too important an object, in a political and 
commercial point of view, to be suffered to remain unoccupied and unregarded, 
for, admitting its climate, in its present unimproved state, to be as unfriendly 
to healtli as even that of the Colony of Surinam, it is, notwithstanding, sus- 
ceptible of being so improved, or at least, the dangers attending it so much di- 
minished, by artificial means (such as I will hereafter describe), as to render 
the objections to it, if not harmless, at least comparatively small." 

These remonstrances had the desired effect in preventing the abandonment 
of the island, but apprehensions of disease continued to exert an influence, as 
in more recent periods, to repress the progress of Governmental improvements, 
notwithstanding tlie endorsement of Commodore Porter. "The raaladj^ with 
which the naval forces were afflicted," wrote the Commodore, "had its origin 
in the excessive severity of the duty performed, and the total absence of every 
description of comfort. The disease was contracted among the haunts of the 
pirates on the coast of Cuba, and not, as is generally supposed, at Key West." 

Altliough the early recognition by the Government, of the importance of the 
island for all commercial and maritime purposes, undoubtedly tended to advance 
eventually the interests o" tlie proprietors, they were, for a time, subjected to 
much inconvenience and loss. They were not allowed to do what they would 
with their own, even occupancy of their own buildings being under restraint. 
Quantities of wood were cut from their land, sheep and swiiie that tlicy had 
purcliased and turned loos9 upon tlie island were appropriated to tlie use of 
the land and naval forces, and various otlier impositions had to be submitted 
to, for which tliey never received any remuneration, mainly on the ground that 
their damages wore not sufficiently detailed to admit of a specific valuation in 
dollars and cents. 



76 

NOTE E, PAGE 14. 

LIST OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS OP THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. 

Obtained from the State Department tlironp:li iho conrlesy of the Hon. John 
L. Cadwalader, Acting- Secretary of State. 

JUDGES. 

APPOINTED. APPOIXTED. 

James Webb May 26, 1823 "W. W. Lawrence'. September 9,1863 

" " March 17, ]8:$2 Thos. J. Boynton October 19, 186.3 

" " March U, 1836 Jolin M. McKinney. November 8, 1870 

William Marvin March 3, 1847 James W. Locke Febrnary 1, 1872 

ATTORNEYS. 

APPOINTED. ■ APPOIXTED. 

William A. McRae April 20, 1828 L. Wind.sor Smith. .November 3, 1S47 

John T. Stower May 26, 1829 William R. Hackley.Au!?nst 27. 1850 

Joiin K. Campbell April 5, 1830 John L. Tatnm March 1. 1858 

Edward Chandler May 8, 1834 Tlios. JetT. Bovnlon. ..April 5,1861 

William Marvin Jnnc 20, 1835 Homer G. Plautz May 28, 1868 

Charles Walker March 26. 1839 C. R. Mobley Jnne 2, 1869 

L. AVindsor Smith July 21, 1840 G. B. Patterson February 6, 1875 

George W. Macrae. .August 24, 1842 

MARSHALS. 

COMMISSIONED. COMMISSrOXED. 

Henrv Wilson May 26, 1828 Walter C. Maloney Sept. 24, 1850 

Lackland M. Stone Mar. 4, 1830 Fernando J. Moreno M.-iy 15, 1858 

Thomas Eastin Dec. 20, 1832 Jnracs C. Clapp July 22, 1S61 

Charles M Wells June 8, 1836 George D. Allen July 15, 1870 

Joseph B. Browne Hay 25, 1840 James G. Jones Feb. 24, 1875 

The first name mentioned in Force's " Register and Blue Book,'' in connection 
witii the Marshalship, is John Dean, but there is no record of any commission 
issued to him. ' 

NOTE F, PAGE 17. 

The following named gentlemen constitute the City government at present ; 

0. M. DE Cespedes, Mayor. 

W. H. McCt^iN'TOCK, President of Board o/ Aldermen. 



1 



Aldervien. 



Geo. B. Phillips, 
Joseph Terraxo, 

W M. AltTRELL, 

John Jay Philbrick, 

Benjamin Roberts, 

William S. Curry, 

James A. Roberts, 

Jose J. Fiqueroa. J 

John V. Cornell, Clerk. 

Joseph Fagan, Marshal. 

William Curry, Treasurer. 

W. C. Maloney, Jr., City Attorney. 



' Did not accept. 



17 



NOTE G, PAGE 18. 

COLLECTORS OF THE CUSTOMS. 

Key West was made a District May 7th, 1822. The first Collector, Joel 
Tancj, was from Glascovv, Kentucky. Mr. Yancy did not remain on the island, 
but left a Mr. D;ivvlcy as his Deputy and Mr. Samuel Ayres as Inspector. Mr. 
Dawley died in June, 1823, and Mr. Ayres having resigned, the islanders were 
subjected to great inconvenience. Mr. Thornton, the purser of the port, took 
charge of the office, but at the request of the officer in command, Mr. Ayres 
assumed tlie duties as acting Collector on January 1st, 1824, but only served 
until the 15th of January, when, it is thought, some Revenue officer had 
arrived to fill the office temporarilj', as no name is found to fill the position from 
January T5th, 1824, to October 5th, 1824. 



COLLECTORS. COMmSSWN. 

Joel Yancy 

Samuel Ayres (Actiug) 

John Whitehead February 9, 1824. 

WilUam Pinkney July 22, 1824. 

Alsrcrnou S. Thurston.. April 24,1829. 

William A. Whitehead. November IS, 1830. 

Adam Gordon June 30. 1&38. 

Stephen R. Mai lory July 17, 1845. 

Samuel J.Douglass August 9,1849. 

John T. Baldvviu March 18, 1853. 

Charles Howe March 22,1861. 

W.G.Vance April 12,1869. 

Charles M. Hamilton .. . February 10,1873. 

Frank N. Wicker October 14, 1S73. 



ENTRANOB 
UPON DUTIES. 



December 

January 

Declined. 

October 

May 

January 

July 



September 18, 



October 

May 

May 

July 

April 

October 



1, 
9, 
25, 
27, 
1, 
14, 



1822. 
1824. 

1824. 
1829. 
1831. 
1838. 
1845. 
1849. 
1853. 
1861. 
1869. 
1S73. 
1873. 



December 31, 1823. 
January 15, 1824. 



May 

January 

June 

September 

September 

May 

March 

July 

March 

October 



27, 1829. 
22, 1831. 
30, 183S. 

17, 1845. 

30, 1849. 
8, 1853. 

25, 1861. 

26, 1869. 

31, 1873. 
31, 1873. 



NOTE H, PAGE 20. 



Comparative statement, showing the total value of Imports from, and of Do- 
mestic and Foreign Exports to, the principal Foreign Countries, at the Districts 
named, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1875. 





IMPORTS. 


EXPORTS. 


DISTRICTS. 


inameric'n 

VESSELS. 


IN FOR'N 
VESSELS. 


TOTAL. 


DOMESTIC. 


FOREIGN. 


TOTAL. 


St. Johns, Fla.. 
Charleston. S. C. 
Savannah. Ga... 

Mobile. Ala 

Key West, Fla.. 


$473 
200..521 
353.596 
440,569 
741,985 


$1,662 
479.882 
402.305 
647,176 
9,427 


$2,134 
680.343 
755.901 
1,087,745 
751,412 


$79,470 
19,655,966 
26.666,666 
10,131.260 

591,836 


$72 

928 
32,795 


$79,542 
19 655.966 
29,666,666 
10,132.188 

624.651 



Values and Duties on Foreign Merchandise entered into Consumption, etc. 



78 



DISTRICTS. 


VALUES. 


DUTIES. 


TOTAL 

VALUE. 


TOTAL 
DUTIES. 


Charleston, S. C 

Savannah, Ga 

Mobile, Ala 


j * $21,310 00 
I + 637.247 00 
( * 13.727 00 
1 + 744.707 00 
J * 33.98() 00 
1 + 1,0(10,229 00 
j * 575 708 25 
1 t 180,995 44 

] + 2,133 51 


$10,735 43 ( 

69.921 29 f 

6.07*. 77 1 

54.548 32 f 

15.320 1«( 

4.075 03 ( 

215.418 24 1 

75,446 79 ( 

417 92 j 


1658,557 00 
758,434 00 

1.094.215 00 

756,703 69 

2,133 51 


$80,656 72 
60,625 09 
19,395 79 


Key West, Fla 

St. Johns, Fla 


290,865 03 
417 94 



♦Warehoused. 



tlmmediate Consumption. 



Arrivals of Passexgers, other than citizens of the United States, and the 
Number of Vessels Built during tlie fiscal year ending June 30th, 1875, and 
the Xdmber of Vessels Owned at eacli of the Districts. 





PASSENGERS ARRIV'D. 


VESSELS 
BUILT. 


VESSELS OAVNED. 


DISTRICTS. 


MALES. 


FE- 
MALES. 


tot'l. 


NO. 


TONS. 


SAIL- 
ING. 

5 
152 

29 

61 

104 


STEA- 
MERS. 


TOTAL NO. 


TONS. 


St. Johns Fla 


43 
32 

929 


19 
886 


62 
32 

1,815 


8 
3 

6 


113 

33 
139 


22 
21 
19 

29 
2 


27 

173 
4s 
90 

106 


2.569 


Charleston. S. C 

Savannah. G:i 

Mobile. Ala 


6,938 
!'.463 
7.555 


Key West 


2,915 



VESSELS BUILT AND OWNED IN KET WEST. 





TEAR. 


1 


1835 


2 


1846 


8 


1843 


4 


1849 


5 


ia53 


6 


1855 


7 


1S56 


8 


1856 


9 


1857 


10 


1857 


11 


18.57 


12 


1S.58 


13 


1859 


14 


1853 


15 


lS(i5 


16 


1868 



TONS. TEAR. 

Sloop Mary Mcintosh*... 10 17 18f>8 

Schr.Youlce 10 18 1S6S 

Schr. G. L. Bowne 120 19 1SH9 

Schr. Enphemia ... 134 20 1870 

Schr. Florida 171 21 1S70 

ShipS.R. Malloryt 9S0 22 1871 

Schr. Libbie Shepard 120 2:j 1871 

Schr. Amelia Ann 139 24 1372 

Schr. Gipsy 149 25 1&73 

Schr. Fiiirv 16 26 1873 

Schr. Dndley 36 27 1875 

Schr. Velocity 107 2S 1875 

Schr. Matchless 159 29 1875 

Schr. Independent 9 30 1875 

Schr Sea Gull 40 31 1876 

Schr. Hero 20 



TONS. 

Schr. Mary Elizabeth 9 

Schr. Gem of the Sea 18 

Schr. .\nnie 18 

Schr. Louisa 18 

Schr. W. G.Vance 18 

Schr. Ada and Norman. ..... 9 

Sclir. Wild Eagle 18 

Schr. Fairy 5 

Schr. Champion 83 

Schr. Carrier 10 

Schr. KoseBud 12 

Schr. Lilly 44 

Schr. Emma L Low 49 

Sloop Nellie Finder 6 

Schr. Centennial 18 



♦ Built by Mr, John Bartlnm, on the north side of Whitehead street, near Caroline 
street. She was 32 feet In the keel. 



+ The largest vessel ever built in Florida; also by Mr. Bartlnm. 



79 



VESSELS BUILT IN MOKROE COUNTY FOH KEY WEST OWNERS. 



TEAR. TONS. 

1 1810 Schr Lavina, (Key Vaccas) . 13 

2 1S41 Schr. Jaue Ann, •• " . 9 

3 1872 Schr. Emma, Indian Key... 12 



YEAR. TONS. 

4 1873 Sloop Euphemia, Ind'n Key 12 

5 1874 Schr. Clyde, " " 14 

6 1875 Schr. Race, " '' 28 



NOTE I, PAGE 24. 



SALT MANUFACTUKE. 



Mr. E. C. Howe has kindly furnished the following statement of the product 
of the Salt Pond since 1845 : 



1845. 

1840— Hurricane destroyed it. 



SHELS. BUSHELS. 

2 ,000 1854 43,000 

1855 75,000 



1847 40,000 1856 7il,000 

1848 35,000 1857. 



70.000 

1849 40,000 1858 65 0.50 

1850 35,000 1859 60.000 

1851 38.000 1S60 65,000 

1852 4S.000 1861 30,000 

1853 42.000 

From 1862 to 1868, on account of the war, nothing was done, and from 1868 to 1871, 
while settling up the estate of W. C. Dennis, only a few bushels were made by the men. 

1871 15,000 1874 20,000 

1872 25,0(10 1875 25,000 

1873 30,000 1876 : 28,000 

By the recent hurricane of October 19th and 20th, 1876, about 15,000 bushels o* salt 
were washed away and considerable injury done to the works. 



NOTE J, PAGE 30. 

List of Postmasters at Key West, Monroe County, Florida, with the dates 
of their appointments; 



Office established Feb. 18,1829 

Henry S. VVaterhouse Feb. 18, 1829 

Alexander Patterson Apr. 11, 1S33 

Aldeii A. M.Jackson Apr. 12 1836 

L. Windsor Smith Mar. 29, 1839 

Walter C Maloney Aug. 1, 1S44 

Joseph C. Whalton Aug. 2, 1845 



Royal L. Hicks June 2, 1849 

Joseph C. Whallon Mar. 11, 1S53 

Henry Albnry .May 7, 1S61 

Gc-orge Phillips, by the Prcs't. Oct. 14, 1865 
The office became Presidential Oct. 14, 1865 

Eldridgc L. Ware Apr. 16. 1866 

who is the present incumbent. 



NOTE K. PAGE 31. 

[From the Key West Gazette, March 21, 1831.] 

At a. Meeting of the Town Council of Key West, on Monday evening, March 
7th, 1831, 
On motion of Mr. W. A. Whitehead, ic was Resolved, That the President of 



80 

the Town Council be requested to call a public meeting of the citizens of Key 
West, for tlie purpose of adopting measures for obtaining the settlement of a 
clergyman on the island and the establishment of a school. 

In pursuance of this resolution a pi.blic meeting of the citizens was held at 
the Council Room on the evening of Tuesday, March 9 th. 

The Hon. James Webb was called to the chair and W. A. Whitehead ap- 
pointed Secretary. 

David C. Pinkham, Esq., offered the following resolutions for the considera-. 
tion of the meeting : 

Resolved, That a Committee of six persons be appointed to ascertain, as far 
as practicable, the amount whicli can be raised by subscription for the support 
of a minister of the Gospel, and also what number of children would become 
scholars upon the establishment of a school 

Resolved Further, Tliat the said Committee be requested to draft a suitable 
communication to the Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the State of New 
York, setting fortli tlie object of this meeting, and requesting him to procure 
and send a person for the purpose here proposed, and that the said Committee 
make u report on Saturday evening, 12tii inst. 

Messrs. Chandler, Pinkham and Stoddard severally addressed the meeting, 
when upon putting the question as to the passing of the resolutions, it was 
carried in the affirmative. 

On motion it was 

Resolved, That Hon. James Webb, Judge of the Superior Court for the 
Southern Judicial District of Florida, Hon. David Coffin Pinkham, Judge of 
the County Court for Monroe County, Wm. A. Wiiitehcad, Esq., Collector of 
the Customs of the Port of Key West, Col. L. M. Stone, U. S. Marshal for the 
Southern District of Floridiji, B. B. Strobel, M. D., Surgeon of the Mihtary 
Post, and Henry S. Waterhouse, M. D., Postmaster of Key West, be the Com- 
mittee for carryiug into effect the objects contemplated. 

Tlie meeting was adjourned to Saturday evening, March 12th. 

A public meeting of the citizens was held at the Council Rooms, on the 
evening of Saturday, Marcli 12th. agreeable to adjournment. 

Mr. PiuKJiam, from the Committee appointed at the previous meeting, re- 
ported that ihej' had obtained tlie necessary information called for by the res- 
olution then adopted, and laid before the meeting the draft of a letter to the 
Right Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, Bishop of the State of New Fork, wliicii 
was approved and accepted of. 

On motion of Mr. J. Whitehead, it was 

Resolved, That the Committee as it now is, bo constituted a Standing Com- 



81 

mittea to receive subscriptions towards raising a sufBcient fund for building a 
church upon the island. 

The meeting then adjourned sine die. 



NOTE L. PAGE 45. 
WILLIAM ADEE WHITEHEAD. • 

Mr. "Whitehead came to the island in October, 1828, while yet in his minor- 
ity, with the intention of acting as an assistant to his brother, one of the orig- 
inal proprietors, in his commercial pursuits. A survey of the island had been 
previously made, but on the proprietors proceeding to appropriate their several 
portions, in accordance with the division adverted to on page 26, it was found 
that the surveyor had been so negligent as to leave the island without fur- 
nishing them with any courses, distances or other data, whereby their 
respective properties could be found. Mr. Whitehead was therefore em- 
ployed, notwithstanding his youth, to re-survey the island and lay out the town. 
This was done during the winter of 1828-9. It may here be stated, as de- 
serving of record, that the streets, other than those bearing their own names, 
were designated by the proprietors in a way to perpetuate the names of rela- 
tives and personal friends. " Anderson," was so called after the name of the 
then Comptroller of the Treasury; "Eaton," after the Secretary of War; 
"White," after the Territorial Delegate in Congress; "Duval," after the Gov- 
ernor ; "Grinnell," after the merchants of that name in New York ; " Southard," 
afterthe Senator and Secretary of the Navy; "Carohne," " Margaret," " William," 
" Thomas" and " Emma," after brothers and sisters of John Whitehead ; Fran- 
ces," after a daughter of Mr. Fleeming ; "Ann," after Mr. Simonton's wife; 
" Elizabeth," after some relative of Mr. Greene; "Fitzpatrick," after Richard 
Fitzpatrick, a then resident ; "Clinton place," after DeWitt Clinton of New 
York, and "Jackson Square," after the President. The little mangrove island, 
north of the harbor, was also named " Fleeming's Key." 

In 1830, Mr. Whitehead was appointed Collector of the Customs, and entered 
upon his duties before he was of age, and during his residence here filled several 
other local oflSces. He resigned his ofiSce on July 1st, 1838, to engage in busi- 
ness in New York , was for several years in Wall street, and subsequently 
connected with the New York and Harlem and New Jersey Railroads. He is 
now treasurer of a financial institution at Newark, N. J., the place of his birth ; 
his leisure hours being principally employed in illustrating the history of his 
native State, with whose Historical Society he has been associated since its. 
organization, and in observing and recording meteorological phenomena for 
monthly reports to the Newark Daily Advertiser and Smithsonian Institution at 
Washington. His observations, which cover a period 'of over thirty years, em- 
body much valuable information. Having always taken a warm interest in the 
cause of education, he has filled several important trusts in connection there- 
with, and is now President of the Board of Trustees of the State Normal 
11 



82 



School, and Vice President of the State Board of Education. His his- 
torical memoranda, to which references are frequently made in the 
address, are principally embodied in a communication to a gentleman of 
St. Augustine, made early in 1836, a copy of which is in the office of 
the clerk of Monroe County, bound in one of the volumes of newspapers men- 
tioned on page 45. Mr. Whitehead, when transmitting these papers to be de- 
posited in the Clerk's office, gave some advice which is worthy of being fol- 
lowed : " I hope my former suggestions have been carried out in relation to 
"the preservation of files of your newspapers in some one of the public offices. 
" We are too apt to underrate the importance of the events of to-day, forgetful 
" that their results constitute the history of to-morrow. Without the preserva- 
" tion of papers, your changing population will soon be at a loss for the con- 
" necting links between Key West of the present and the Key West of the 
"future." 



NOTE M, PAGE 48. 



RECORD OF DEATHS, 1875. 



Aethma 1 

Arachnitis 10 

Brain DiseaBe 6 

Bums 1 

Cancer 2 

Cholera Infantum 19 

Convulsions 3 

Drowned 1 

Diarrhoea 4 

Dysentery 6 

Dropsy 12 

Enteritis 8 

Epilepsy 3 

C Congestive 1 

jD Bilious 4 

fe J Pernicious 9 

Q I Remittent 7 

fe I Typhoid 10 

[Yellow, (Typhus uterodes) 35 

Gastritis 2 

Heart Disease 5 

Hemorrhage of Langs 2 



Hydrophobia 1 

Hepatic Abscess i 

Inward Mortiflcation i 

Jaundice i 

Lcucoemia i 

Metritis 2 

Marasmus lo 

Old Age 4 

Peritonitis 1 

Pleuritis i 

Pneumonia 16 

Phthisis Pulmonalis .39 

Stomatitis i 

Tabes Mesenterica 4 

Tetanus Neonatorum 12 

" Traumaticus ; 5 

Volvulus 1 

Variola 3 

Worms 2 

Wounds . . 3 

Asphyxia Homatorum . 4 

Still Bom 4 

S68 



83 



RECORD GF DEATHS, 1876, FIRST HALF YEAR. 



Arachnitis 11 

Asphyxia Neonatorum 2 

Burns 3 

Cancer 1 

Caries Vertebralis 1 

Cholera Infantum 9 

Debility 6 

Dentition 4 

Diphtheria 3 

Dysentery 1 

Dropsy 4 

Encephalitis 1 

Enteritis 12 

Epilepsy 1 

Enthernatic Stomatitis 2 

w ( Bilious 1 

S3 J Pernicious 2 

% I Remittent 2 

f^ [Typhoid 5 



Gastro Enteritis 3 

Heart Disease 4 

Hepatic Abscess 1 

Hepatic Cirrhosis 2 

Hydrophobia 1 

Laryngitis 3 

Marasmus 4 

Old Age 2 

Peritonitis 3 

Pistol shot wound 1 

Paralysis 1 

Phthisis Pulmonalis 24 

Pneumonia 6 

Scrofula 3 

Scarlatina 1 

Tabes Mesenterica 3 

Tetanus Neonatorum 11 

Tetanus Traumaticus 1 

Worms 1 

146 



REMARKS. 

From birth to 2 years, (Ist infancy) , 68 

•' 2 to 7 " (2d infancy) 10 

" 7to 15 " (Childhood) 8 

" 15to 25 " (Youth) 14 

" " 25to 50 " (Manhood) 24 

" 50to 70 " (Old age) 12 

More than 70 years, (Senility) 10 

146 
(One arrived at 93 years). 



NOTE N, PAGE 49. 



Table showing the prevalence of different winds at Key West, from obser- 
vations made during four years. The observations were made in the morning 
and afternoon of each day as to the prevailing wind. The figures in the table 
represent the mean number of days that each wind prevailed in each month, 
and are the result of the addition of half days. Winds from points of the com- 
pass not represented in the table, are inserted in the columns to which they 
approximate the nearest. 




Year ...27 7 72 58 67 24 5 16 4 17 



TRADES 
NE. TO SE, 



5^" 



4 
3 
3 
2 
3 
3 
1 
2 
1 
2 
2 
3 

5 29 



6 365 



84 



NOTE 0, PAGES 49. 55. 

Meteokological Tables, from observations of W. A. Whitehead, communi- 
cated to the '■ American Almanac," 1834-1839. 

Condensed Statement of the Temperature of Key West for the years 

named. 



1829 -j 
1830 -j 
1831 ] 
1832 1 
1834] 
1835] 
1836 -j 
1837 -j 
18.38-1 













MEAN OP 






8UNBISB. 


2 P. M. 


10 P. M. 


I'EAK. 


Greatest heat. 


AugiiBt 28. 


820 


89» 


84 




Least heat. 


January 11, 


51 


56 


59 




Greatest heat, 


July 11, 


82 


90 


83 


j- 79.55 


Least heat. 


December 22, 


CI 


58 


58 


Greatest heal, 


July — 


85 


^IM 


80 


I 76.14 


Least heat. 


January 18. 


50 


55 


54 


Greatest heat. 


September 1, 


8 A. M. 83 


90 


83 


!■ +77.64 


Least heat, 


January 27, 


8 A. M. 5.51^ 


59 


57 


Greatest heat, 


August 24, 


Max. 89 




Min. 84 


[ 77.39 


Least heat. 


Noveraher 27, 


Max. 66 




Min. 541^ 


Greatest heat, 


July 1, 


Max. S9>^ 




Min. 79 j^' 


\ 75.92 


Least heat. 


February 8, 


Mas. 52 




Min. 45 


Greatest heat, 


August 15, 


Mas. Sni^ 




Min. 80 


t * 


Least heat. 


January 29, 


Max. 63>i 




Min. 44 


Greatest heat, 


July 30, 


Max. 88 




Min. 83 


[ 76.49 


Least heat. 


January 4, 


Max. 67 




Min. 50 


Greatest heat, 


July, Aug., Sept., 


Max. 88 




Min. 73 


[■ 76.07 


Least heat, 


December, 


Max. 82 




Min. 54 



Mean of seven years, 



r7.03 



NOTE P, PAGES 49, 55. 



Condensed Statement op the Fall of Rain in each month during several 
years. 



MONTHS. 1832 1333 1834 1835 1836 

January — 2.20 0.32 2.40 2.35 

February — 1.50 None None 1.18 

March — 0.50 1.97 0.05 1.45 

April — 0.85 1.75 1.15 0.60 

May — 335 11.46. 3.61 6.95 

June — 1.90 0.10 3.15 4.40 

July — 4.30 2 70 3 26 1.10 

August — 3.10 3.46 5.93 0.70 

September — 4.45 3.80 5.90 3.25 

October 4.70 1.02 8.85 0.42 1.65 

November 1.75 2.08 1.67 1.43 0.52 

December 0.30 2.30 0.01 2.78 0.25 

Total 6.75 27.55 .36.09 80.08 24.40 



1837 


1838 


MEAN. 


1.83 


0.05 


1.52 


93 


0.05 


0.61 


0.75 


0.00 


0.79 


2.42 


0.02 


1.13 


5.35 


0.82 


5.26 


1.68 


4.86 


2.68 


1.65 


1.15 


2.36 


7.i50 


3.05 


3.96 


5.80 


8.47 


4.44 


6.05 


0.40 


3 30 


3.05 


5.75 


2.32 


1.65 


0.87 


I.IS 



38.66 20.49 29.55 



• Observations not full, 
t Partly estimated. 




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ry 


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ICO in oj CO «o t- ■" 

■"a^ t— o t-» 00 lO T 

■aHXLT j oooi ' ' ' <m' (N CO 35 ■>3< CO t-' oo oi c: •*■ o to W ' 
I cocoe* CO c: t- »-i ii 00 1- 00 1- ososioX 



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i 



KEY WEST IN 1838. 

The subjoined views of the town, as it was in 1838, are reduced from two 
large peneil sl^etclies by Mr. William A. Whitehead, which that gentlemen sent 
to the island in 1872, to be deposited in one of the public ofiBces. It is under- 
stood that every building then standing is portrayed, excepting the warehouse 
from which the sketches were taken, and their pecuharties of structure 
preserved. 



*;j.* The following is a corrected list of the clergymen who have had charge 
of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church : See page 33. 

Rev. S. K. Brdnot, - - - 1832 to 1833 

Rev. Alvah Bennett, - - - 1834 to 1835 

Rev. Robert Dyce. - - - 1836 to 1839 

Rev. a. B. Ford, - - - - 1839 to 1842 

Rev. J. H. Hanson, - - - 1843 to 1845 

Rev. C. C. Adams, - - - 1846 to 1855 

Rev. a E. Herrick, . - 1856 to 1870 

Rev. W. T. Saunders, - - - 1870 to 1871 

Rev. J. Reuther, - - - 1872 to 1874 

Rev. J. L. Steele, D.D., - - 1874 to 







ERRATA. 






** The 


listauce bet 


ween Author and Printer, very ii 


aturally occasioned soino 


ographical errors \\ 


hich tlie reader will please correct 






Page 3, 


Line IS, for ' work " read mark. 








' 8, 


" 16, '■ 


" Joseph C." read John. 








' 9, 


note, " 


"dibtinguished" read di.HiiigiiisJi 








' 21, 


line 15, " 


"Browne " read Bowne. 








' 23, 


" 14. " 


" 1854 " read 1864. 








' 25. 


" 18. '^ 


" Arnan " read Arnait. 








' 33, 


" 9, " 


•' Gabriel " read A . E. (and see pa 


ge 


Sfi). 




' 33. 


" 19 and 22, dele quotation marks. 








' 34, 


" 8, add Mr Charles Tift has given a lot 


of 


land as a site for the 








Church. 








' 35, 


" 4, for ' 


large " read larger. 








' 37, 


" 29, " ' 


two" read three. 








' 37, 


" 30, aftei 


" Washington " insert Tift. 








' 38, 


" 30, for ' 


' Grand" read Good. 








' 39, 


" 2.5, " ' 


1S39" read 1837. 








' 45, 


" 23, " ' 


previous by " read previoi(,sly. 








' 52, 


" 94, " ' 


give '' read gave. 








' 55, 


" 10, " ' 


It ia asked " read Is it asked. 








' ss. 


" 6, " ' 


teni-.s" read tenure. 








' 78, 


" 19. " ' 


' Mary " read Maria. 







